Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1431464
How can you taunt and jeer at a man who is suicidal, urging him to "go ahead and jump" be- cause you want to get to work? Apparently, some can and did on Friday morning as a des- perate man climbed on to the bastions at City Gate, Valletta before he was talked down by police officers. I watched the video, like so many others did, with a sick feeling in the pit of my stom- ach, and tried to fathom how the handful of people making callous comments could be treating it as some form of real- ity show for their own personal entertainment. They noncha- lantly discussed the probability of the man smashing into the ground below and speculat- ed about whether, after all, it was just a prank because if he wanted to jump "he would have done so by now". A few were gleefully filming the scene and it was probably being shared in real time so that they could get views and likes. While I am as shocked as everyone else at what I saw and heard, before making sweeping generalisations, I do believe that it all needs to be put in- to context and several caveats need to be made. For example, rather than saying that these heartless comments represent the "kind of nation that we've become", I couldn't help but notice that these onlookers were probably all under the age of 30. I don't think that is a co- incidence. Obviously, the seven or eight people I counted are hardly representative of a whole gen- eration, as that would be an equally inaccurate generalisa- tion on my part. But we can- not deny that a segment of this demographic which is cruel and unfeeling does exist, not only in Malta but worldwide. Just look at the hate speech on Twitter which is often directed at celebrities for no reason at all. Look at the relentless online bullying which goes on against teenagers and children, of- ten driving them to self-harm. This is the generation which has grown up with social me- dia where everything is seen through a camera phone and the minutiae of their lives are posted on Instagram for val- idation and instant gratifica- tion. The flipside of this is the ease with which virtual (anon- ymous) mobs targeting others can be created with just a tap on your phone. There have al- ways been 'mean girls' but now rather than just making you miserable in the school cafe- teria, they have another more public platform to be mean. It is also why I do not sub- scribe to the blanket state- ments that, 'Malta is finished', 'an island full of savages' and that, 'our society is sick'. Yes, there are some pockets of soci- ety which are beyond redemp- tion and savage behaviour exists. In fact, we could all be kinder to others in real life and we could use a detox from what we read online… but throwing the whole country in the same basket is not fair either. I believe that, irrespective of age and the easy accessibili- ty provided by smartphones, those who resort to this type of thing have to be inclined to do so by their very nature, either due to a dysfunctional upbringing or events in their lives which have turned them into cold-hearted and soulless beings. Social media has not turned them into what they are, social media has just made it easier for them to be this way and has unfortunately given them a wider audience in the process. What is the most worrying is that I doubt they even real- ise that their behaviour is not acceptable. There were sever- al macabre wisecracks made, which were audible in the vid- eo for the benefit of their im- promptu audience, and which were rewarded by cackling laughter in appreciation of this 'humour'. But I am sure if I had to tell any of them that their commentary was inappropriate and below the belt they would tell me, "oh come on, don't be so uptight, it was just a joke". Another issue is that anyone with a phone these days thinks they are a journalist or a pre- senter, and is ready to film and comment on anything they see happening without per- mission, without any ethical boundaries and without a sec- ond's thought. The people who mocked the man on the bas- tions clearly have no filters (ex- cept for the filters they use to make themselves look 'perfect') and empathy is too difficult a concept for them to grasp be- cause no one has ever taught them to be compassionate. If, God forbid, the man had actually jumped, those filming would have probably boasted at being the first to capture the moment themselves, like one of those episodes in Black Mir- ror where the extent of peo- ple's desensitisation to tragedy and violence has pushed them over the edge. Is it already too late for hu- manity to pull back from the brink of the darkness often found on social media? Some say it is. Personally I think such toxic, malicious people have al- ways been around us, and the Internet and social media have simply amplified their exist- ence. Is it possible to defuse what in Maltese is so well-described by the word 'ħdura' by refusing to give it so much attention? Perhaps that is the best option. What I often see is a multiplier effect of news portals picking up on such viral videos, turn- ing them into stories which are then shared yet again creating a snowball effect and expand- ing their audience. So what if all we stopped doing that? And, as I'm writ- ing this, I realise that I really should start with myself be- cause I'm as much to blame for sharing that horrible video. In retrospect, I should have lis- tened to my own advice, and not given in to the temptation to press 'share', thus giving the people who behaved so appall- ingly, even more publicity. But sometimes what is labelled 'hdura' is not 'hdura' at all I think we can all agree that there is too much aggro and malice being spewed on a dai- ly basis on Facebook and else- where (although I feel the need to remind readers that this practice did not start now, but has been going on for at lest 13 years). But we also have to avoid fall- ing into the trap of becoming too enamoured of the phrase 'hate speech' and throwing it around at random. Sometimes a news report is just that, a news report. However, when I saw Jason Micallef becoming so disproportionately upset over a headline and story by MaltaToday, I wondered if we had read the same thing. Here is a translation from his post in Maltese, with capital letters and all: "The disgusting behaviour and arrogance by which the local media is being managed deserves the condemnation of anyone in the country who still has a soul and a heart. Stories like the one I am reproducing is nothing but ruthless malice (ħdura)… Setting aside the sit- uation of Konrad Mizzi in Par- liament and outside it, it is not acceptable to have CRUEL, IN- SENSITIVE AND HEARTLESS journalists like this conceited Matthew Vella who thinks he is a fake imitation of the BBC's Stephen Sackur. Konrad Miz- zi has a family, children and parents. Peritonitis is a very serious condition which, if not treated, can even lead to death in some cases. This is not jour- nalism, but malice from a cruel, heartless pen." I hurried to read what the "arrogant and malicious" Mat- thew Vella had written only to find this factual headline: "Mizzi misses PAC grilling af- ter hospital admission on peri- tonitis diagnosis." The story itself then ex- plained what peritonitis means and how it is caused which, giv- en the fact it is not a medical term one hears every day, and considering Konrad's high pro- file, was reasonable informa- tion to add to the story. There was nothing in that story which was heartless and there was definitely no ħdura. I really don't understand what Jason Micallef read in this sto- ry which was so unacceptable and which caused him to go berserk, but his vitriolic post only served to spur some oth- er hot-heads to make the usu- al disparaging remarks about journalists in general, which is the last thing we need. There have been times in the past when very tasteless, al- most gloating remarks were made about a politician's ill health and to which the term ħdura could have been applied. But this was definitely not one of them and there is absolutely no comparison. 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2021 OPINION Social media gives callous people a wider audience Is it already too late for humanity to pull back from the brink of the darkness often found on social media? Some say it is. Personally I think such toxic, malicious people have always been around us, and the Internet and social media have simply amplified their existence Josanne Cassar