The 'game of silence' makes more noise

The Sri Lankan government temporarily blocked access to major social networks; it had already happened in 2018, after bloody clashes between Muslims and Buddhists; India has announced its intention to install an internet censorship system before the elections, to curb misinformation and illegal content; some African nations, such as Congo and Zimbabwe, block social networks just before the electoral consultations.

Time for questions

I have read many articles about this fact. These are my questions: is there a way to limit information? Is there a way to block the fake news? Is there a way to avoid building places where people can say and do bad things?

We are social before the social networks

I think that "social networks" exist before social networks. Social media are the technological transposition of behaviors that we socially implement in our lives.

Creating a vacuum in communication increases the risk of echoing wrong information that becomes truth in people's minds.

The case of Sri Lanka must be analyzed not only from the point of view of communication but also from the geopolitical and political one.

But we cannot fail to consider that social networks today are a fundamental part of people's lives and are the main source of communication between people, between government and citizens, companies and customers, journalists and readers, and that they bring people together under the same interest like a club, a pub, a team, a fraternity, an association, etc.

We need time to think

Therefore the most important thing is to learn how to use them, understand their potential but also to recognize that we are not the only owners of the information we share.

We need to know how to use them, the risks, the opportunities but above all to use them serenely.

Start reading again, compare content, take time to think.