It was noon, the sun hung out in the sky as though it were a tired farmer. Perhaps even the sun is bored Jide thought.
He has had his share of the lockdown boredom, his face was contorted as he began to think on what exactly he would do to kill time.
Online classes? No, that’s way too boring. Anonymous messages? Bucket lists? No
None of these options seem appealing to him. Even WhatsApp has become very tiresome as there seem to be nothing more to discuss with friends.
Yes! Yes! That’s it, his face lit up with pure ecstasy as he dashed right for his phone. Let’s start a Twitter war. My hall versus that silly female hostel.
He contacted his friend, James, who was more than happy to oblige to his proposal
“Anything to escape this boredom”, James said.
The war of words and wits is slated for 6pm, spread the word, Jide Said.
The time slated for the war has finally arrived. Keyboards ready for battle, the game begun.
James having held a grudge against the female hall president saw this as an avenue to get back at her, after all, bullets of bants have been flying around, and all soldiers seem to be getting their own fair share of the diss. “that mumu girl , I go show her pepper”. He thought as the smile of mischief flashed across his face
After a while of tit-for-tat, he dropped the grenade
“Your hall president is a cheap slut” he said, and added the hashtag, and purple faced emoji to it
This seem to create a special effect as there was no response from the different parties involved. It was like the calm before the storm. Minutes later, reactions erupted like an angry volcano. The tweet has gone viral and has gotten varying responses. While some condemned him for his choice of words, some discarded it as one of those things during playful bants.
Words!
They are like small stones thrown in a pool of water, though of inconsequential size, they generate very large ripples that would extend across the length and breadth of the water body. Ripples whose effects are multiplied by the media, especially, social media platforms and the radio vision authorities. These words -the basic means of human interaction- are used every day, everywhere, to achieve various purposes ranging from therapy to destruction. Institutions, countries and world governments knowing the importance of expression through words have made laws that give liberty to the people to express their opinions without fear or favour. For instance, section 39(1) of the Nigerian Constitution gives every citizen the freedom of expression, and to hold opinion, to receive and impart ideas WITHOUT interference.
True to the witty nature of mankind, words can be very entertaining, Good Lord! It can be very relaxing to read healthy bants, watch video skits and other funny contents online. Prominent among the media platforms is the bird app. Generally, it is natural of anybody to cleave to comforting and funny contents, especially now that the world is wearing a sad expression. More so, it is very healthy to allow humor to thrive in the midst of conflicting emotions struggling to get to the limelight. While doing this, sanity dictates that people also learn. In that regards, the aforementioned platform is a proven melting point. Individuals express opinions, make mistakes and are corrected – with humor, in sincerity, sometimes in anger. The humorous means of correction has however gained ground in the Nigerian media and it’s fast becoming a cliché under the umbrella “Twitter Savagery”. Currently, this has been abused and provocative contents violating the law and every tenet of morality have surfaced
At this point, the possibility of having crossed the line out of ignorance can’t be ruled out, after all, we are indeed human and as they say, no one is an island of knowledge. As a matter of expediency and conformity to world regulations, Twitter is guided by some principles and rules meant to regulate contents on the app. Rules that are being flouted on a regular basis .Oh darn! Who reads those long boring policies and rules? Well, the law acknowledges its relevance and ignorance is definitely not an excuse. To this effect, it is important that every user acknowledges the part of the rules that reads;
“On Twitter, you should feel safe expressing your unique point of view. We believe in freedom of expression and open dialogue, but that means little as an underlying philosophy if voices are silenced, because people are afraid to speak up. In order to facilitate healthy dialogue on the platform, and empower individuals to express diverse opinions and beliefs, we prohibit behavior that harasses or intimidates, or is otherwise intended to shame or degrade others. In addition to posing risks to people’s safety, abusive behavior may also lead to physical and emotional hardship for those affected”
However, the bigger picture would be to know that some of these mishaps borne out of supposed humor may be acts that violate the law of the country. Of course, it has serious legal implications if taken seriously. While basking in the euphoria of freedom of opinion, it is important not to infringe on another person’s right of privacy, opinion and etcetera. The same law that allows freedom of giving opinions also dictates in section 373 of the criminal code that any person who publishes any defamatory matter is guilty of misdemeanor and is liable on conviction to imprisonment, fore knowledge that the offending matter is false attracts imprisonment for two years. Meanwhile, Section 373 of the same criminal code defines defamatory matter as matter likely to injure the reputation of any person in his profession or trade. In simpler terms, defamation is saying or writing anything false that may hurt someone else’s reputation. So, pause! before you post that information about someone, before you mock the VC of that other school in a Twitter war, before you post that hilarious content, doesn’t it appear like a fact?, is it a good thing to say to others?, Does it portray civil awareness, doesn’t it affect the reputation of whoever is involved? You could go to jail you know? Have you paused to see if you are not breaking the law?
Finally, apart from breaching technical and legal rules, some contents break all the boundaries set by traditional morals. Indeed! Right or wrong is a subjective discourse, it is subject to religion, culture and literacy. However, no culture or religion supports insults and defamation. At least not any of the major ones in Nigeria approves it. Now you know these, you can no longer feign ignorance. As learned individual, sanity dictates that we don’t violate the law and infringe on other people’s right under the disguise of humor. Do not humor your way into jail. This does not in any way imply rigidity. We must still have fun, don’t you think? Sarcasm in healthy bants and knowledgeable conversations are good tools for building a healthy society.
Yours in the fourth estate
Akinmoyeje Timileyin Precious
