COMMENT - Abuse, internet? Just use your blocking functions.
Insults and abuses on the Internet
By The Post
Thu 07 Mar. 2013, 13:40 CAT
The observations made by Charlotte Scott on the abuse of the Internet or social media to insult, abuse, humiliate, harass and intimidate women deserve urgent and serious considerations.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for women to participate in public discourse due to the harassment and abuse they are subjected to on the social media. Of course, it is not only women who are subjected to this. Men are also victims of these abuses. But the brunt of this is predominantly being borne by women.
Many readers will disagree with us and that is normal and rational. People cannot have the same opinion on one subject because though we are all equal by our common humanity, we are also different by our individuality. But does the fact that we differ on an issue give those who disagree with us the right to insult and abuse us?
The Internet has given a true meaning to press freedom and freedom of expression by opening up all forms of media to anyone and everyone with access to the Internet as well as enabling anyone and everyone with access to Internet to freely express themselves. As a result, even the most powerful governments in the world can no longer easily curtail press freedom and freedom of expression.
The Internet has also given a voice to the voiceless and empowered the powerless in the area of press freedom and freedom of expression. However, we believe that many users of the Internet are seriously concerned about the way it is being used or misused and abused in the name of press freedom and freedom of expression in Zambia and by Zambians. The practice these days is such that it appears insults and abuses have become an integral part of the enjoyment of these rights by Zambians.
Without doubt, those who developed the Internet and other media avenues did not intend to create a forum for insults and abuse, but rather an opportunity for us to share ideas, expertise and to contribute to the development of our communities.
The insults and abuses know no limits. Please do not misunderstand the rationale behind this editorial comment. We are not in any way suggesting that Zambians should not hold their leaders accountable or criticise them. Far from it. But could that not be done without insults and abuses? We should be critical friends and offer constructive criticism.
We can disagree with our political opponents without being abusive. After all, political parties and politicians are in competition to win elections and not at battle to win wars.
The freedom to post comments on websites without any review of the contents of such comments has made the insults and abuses inevitable. This is tantamount to a licence to abuse the rights of others.
Most comments posted on some of these websites are nothing but pure defamatory and libellous in nature and against the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the Zambian Constitution. So why are Zambians violating their own Constitution by using the media and Internet to freely express insulting and abusive language and opinions, incite hatred against other members of the community and so on and so forth?
There is the urgency for appropriate action to be taken to address this danger and threat to the two freedoms. Those who regularly post these insulting, abusive, racist and ethnic bashing comments are enemies of press freedom and freedom of expression.
Sadly, we are tempted to suggest that if the insults and abuses do not stop, then, our media websites may have to introduce some software to weed out the insults and abuses. For example, in order to be able to comment on most if not all media websites in the United Kingdom, one must register with the website and provide name and contact details including a valid email address and telephone number.
Comments are approved in advance before they are accessible to the public. We are not suggesting this approach as our websites may not have the resources to review in advance the many comments posted on the websites each day. However, if these abuses continue, then drastic measures must be introduced to stop the abusers and enemies of progress.
We accept that this would not be easy as it may be defeatist and may even not be in the true spirit of press freedom and freedom of speech. But the enjoyment of these freedoms without due regard to the restrictions contained therein (international and regional covenants and our national Constitution) they would make a mockery of the very rights and freedoms we all cherish and must protect.
We know for sure that we will be subjected to insults and abuse for the contents of this editorial comment.
We are not daunted, rather, we take inspiration from what Martin Luther King Jr said: "An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him or her is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." He also said, "The ultimate measure of a man/woman is not where he/she stands in moments of comfort and convenient, but where he/she stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Current legislation and its enforcement does not provide adequate protection against insults and threats on the internet. As part of the solution, we require now that the law be updated and adapted.
It cannot be said too many times. Internet itself is not the cause of these insults and abuses, it is only a venue. The Internet is a channel where insults, hatred and other abuses can spread by wind-speed and where it seems easier to speak far more coarse and disgusting than face-to-face with someone.
To stop and prevent this requires action at multiple levels and by many actors.
The Internet has swept into our lives and we have smart phones and tablets into our hearts and into our homes. Many are the meetings, initiatives and ideas that have been born thanks to the internet. At the same time, we face a situation that is no longer sustainable.
Children and young people are exposed to serious violations online without doing anything. And oddly enough, there seems to be a general acceptance that a violation that occur on the Internet would be more okay than that that would take place elsewhere.
One may get the impression that the Internet is a lawless land, but this is not the case. The professional rules of zero tolerance of violations also applies to what is happening on the internet.
We need to talk about what is okay and not. We need to talk about what it feels when someone writes something that is lousy and how they want to be treated.
Insults, hatred and other abuses must go out into the light to be combated. Both because it affects individuals and hard for all of us to dare to express our opinions. And because when people do not dare to speak for fear of being insulted, abused in all sorts of ways on the internet, this becomes a threat to our democracy.
We cannot ignore it any longer, it now requires sharper action to change what is going on. The problem will not go away by itself. We need to put in place a system that promotes the rights that every human being has not to be subjected to slander, threats or other serious violations.
Our presence on the Internet has opened up new types of crimes and there may be gaps in the criminal catalogue that now need to be filled. Many of the crimes that many people suffer on the Internet lead to serous consequences, but are not always matched by the penalty that is possible to impose. The penalties should be reviewed.
We need to prioritise this crime and provide resources to the police and prosecutors. Often the police are powerless when it comes to abuses or crime online.
To stop these abuses is our common responsibility and here we all have different roles to play.
We need to strengthen the police's capacity to track these people down and have them arrested. Today very little is done to track down and arrest the abusers of the internet. We need a law and law enforcement agencies that would target people who insult, threaten, bully, harass and defame other people on facebook, forum, blogs, comment sections on blogs, comment sections on newspaper articles and so on and so forth. Some would see this as vial and undemocratic, but many people here would support it, so we guess it is at least democratic.
Day by day, the usage of the Internet is increasing. Some dishonest people abuse it. Anyway, Internet is becoming the necessity of every class of people. We need to restrict the activities of some heinous and immoral people who use the Internet to belittle and degrade others.
It is said that every man or women should have an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he or she pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression; but if he or she publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he or she must take the consequences of his or her own temerity.
Labels: CHARLOTTE SCOTT, INTERNET, WOMEN
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'Zambians have become too materialistic'
By The Post
Wed 21 Nov. 2012, 14:50 CAT
It is true that we have become too materialistic as a nation. Consumerism seems to be unbridled or out of control. Everything, including personal relationships, now seem to be determined on the basis of money, material wealth.
Charlotte Scott has every right to get worried about Zambians having become too materialistic. There is truly a problem of materialism in Zambia. Zambians are increasingly stopping to derive pleasure from human relations. Their pleasure seems to be increasingly coming from material possessions.
Friendships, relationships, marriages and so on and so forth are today increasingly being determined on the basis of material possessions.
Some people even think that having a bit of money should buy them a ticket to high national political offices. They think the only thing that should qualify them, more than others, to such high political offices is the depth of their pockets.
Respect in the family and society at large seems to be increasingly becoming based on one's material possessions.
The more material possessions one has, the more respect they are given regardless of their other deficiencies. Marriages are breaking up because of changes or deficiencies in material possessions. Everything seems to be calculated on the basis of material possessions.
And commitment to material possessions is reducing the commitment to other important values in life. In pursuit of material possessions, principles, standards, values and common aims are sacrificed.
And any means of acquiring great material possessions seem to be increasingly acceptable. Even well-known thieves, bandits, corrupt elements are respected as long as they have money. Few seem to care about one's source of material wealth. People who have stolen public funds go around flaunting their loot without a problem. They are reserved a seat wherever they go.
Even when they are prosecuted for stealing, for corruption, they are not short of defenders, protectors. If they are in politics, cadres will be mobilised to escort them to police stations or court whenever they have to make an appearance.
This is surely not a recipe for the creation of an honest, more just, fair and humane society. This is not a society in which an individual can be expected to do well. An individual does best in a strong and decent community of people with principles and standards and common aims and values.
Our moral environment seems to be getting more and more contaminated and devoid of morality, principles and values.
Regardless of the limitations of the society that was created by Dr Kenneth Kaunda and his comrades, that society seems to be infinitely superior to what we have today. There seems to be no comparison between that society and its dignified way of life and the one we have today, the one that has been created over the last 21 years or so. There was much more happiness in that society than there is in today's society - not from a material standpoint, because material things alone don't make for happiness.
A sense of justice, dignity, self-respect, respect for others and love for your fellow citizens also have a great deal to do with happiness, as do moral principles; the feeling of being free, equal and respected and of taking part in the battle for the progress of the world, the world you live in; and working like beavers, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of your people. We today live in a society where everything is solved on a price basis. So when there isn't enough of something, there is speculation.
We hope this situation will not last forever. We hope this situation will come to an end. This unbridled consumerism and materialism should concern us all because it promotes corruption and other abuses.
We believe that the highest level of political thought was reached when some people became aware that no one had the right to exploit others, to rape his fellow citizens and that the fruits of the efforts and intelligence of each human being should reach all others; that man really had no need to be a wolf but could be a brother to man.
The situation we live in today should not be allowed to continue because it is impoverishing our nation in all sorts of ways. Today, people want to live well without working hard. Young people graduate from college or university and immediately want to have very expensive clothes and in very large quantities, a nice flat and car. They have no patience; they don't want to wait and accumulate savings to acquire these things. Everything should be instant coffee-like. What does this lead to? Serious moral decay.
Corruption, prostitution and all sorts of vices quickly win them over. There is very little they cannot do to gain material benefits. They start to consume beyond their earned income. And any consumption that goes beyond one's earned income leads to corruption, immorality and all other sorts of vices. Actually, living beyond one's earned income is a prima facie case of corruption, dishonesty and immorality.
And as Charlotte says, there is need to derive pleasure from human relations and not material possessions - "human relations are very important and they are expressed through people and not through objects; it is not always about fancy things and fancy places".
We are lucky we currently have a president, Michael Sata, and a Vice-President, Dr Guy Scott, who are not moved much by material possessions. Material things don't seem to bother these people much and are not their driving force. Our nation's values can be greatly influenced by Michael and Guy's attitude towards material things if their example is used efficiently and effectively.
In a world plagued by such high levels of materialism, the humility and modesty of Michael and Guy is certainly not a small thing. Look at the way people like Hakainde Hichilema boast about material things all the time! Look at the way some cheap politicians like Geoffrey Mwamba boast about how rich they are all the time! As if this was the highest quality a human being should possess to count for something!
The most important thing in life is to be near and necessary to other people. There are men and women chosen to bring happiness into the hearts of people - those are the real heroes, the real stars, the great people. The important thing is to give happiness to people and to go to bed feeling that you have done some service to the community.
Great material possessions and boasting about how much material possessions one has is nothing. A person who boasts is like a goat that sucks its own milk. And it is said that if a deity begins to show off, just show it the tree from which it was carved. A little humility, a little intelligence achieves more than any amount of material possessions. And moreover, one does not achieve greatness by proclaiming greatness.
So the values being advocated by Charlotte deserve our most favourable consideration at all levels of our society. Those in the political leadership need to pay serious attention to what Charlotte is saying. And those who preach in our churches need to preach what Charlotte is preaching. These values that Charlotte is propagating also need to be embraced and propagated in the family, in the school and everywhere we go.
Labels: CHARLOTTE SCOTT, GUY SCOTT, PF
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Materialism in Zambia worries Charlotte
By Mukosha Funga
Wed 21 Nov. 2012, 14:40 CAT
CHARLOTTE Scott says she is worried that Zambians have become too materialistic. Charlotte, who is Vice-President Dr Guy Scott's wife, said in an interview recently that there was a problem of materialism in Zambia.
"I think there is a problem of materialism in Zambia. Materialism is a culture that is not only in Zambia but in Africa as a whole," she said.
Charlotte added that materialism led to dissatisfaction as people desire to identify themselves with what they own.
"The problem with it is that ultimately it is not satisfactory because materialism is the desire to show yourself through what you own as compared to what others own and therefore what happens is you will always be dissatisfied," she said.
Charlotte said there was need to derive pleasure from human relations and not material possessions.
"Human relations are very important and they are expressed through people and not through objects. It is not always about fancy things and fancy places," she said.
And Charlotte said Vice-President Scott is overwhelmingly dedicated to Zambia.
"He is overwhelmingly committed to Zambia. He is un-materialistic and very clever," she said.
Charlotte said the past one year of the PF in government had been very busy for both of them.
"The last one year has been busy and it keeps getting busier all the time. It is unusual that either of us gets a whole day off from events but it is a huge privilege and honour to be able to participate in so many different things. You get to see wonderful things happening and so much positive progress in different dimensions," Charlotte said.
She said having no small children came in handy to facilitate her busy schedule.
"We don't have small kids at home. The youngest child is now off doing her thing in college so it is very much free and we are focused on keeping our programme together.
And you just keep it all together by having a watch and a diary," she said, adding; "You have to keep your health good, energy levels good and you have to go to bed early, it can be a bit exhausting but the teams that are around to give support are very professional and supportive so we keep things going."
Charlotte said she especially enjoyed events where her husband (Vice-President Scott) was present.
"We usually catch up after work if he gets home before 20:00 hours from Parliament. It is always fun when we attend functions and we are together.
But again when you have been married for a long time you know each other too well, so you do not have to spend all your moments together," said Charlotte.
Labels: CHARLOTTE SCOTT, GUY SCOTT, PF
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Zambia can be a centre of the arts - Charlotte
By Wana Kalala
Sun 14 Oct. 2012, 15:10 CAT
ZAMBIA can become a cultural hub and centre of the arts, says Charlotte Scott. Speaking at the Amaka Arts Festival gala at the Government Complex in Lusaka on Friday, Charlotte, who is the festival's patron, said the multi-disciplinary event was historic and needed to be supported.
"This is a first. During the course of this week we have seen some amazing things, amazing kind of interaction between our various trainers - national as well as international - our upcoming artistes, our experienced artistes…a great diversity of things and I think this is something we need to build on," she said.
Charlotte said the arts festival, which began last week, had been successful despite running on a shoestring budget, and urged sponsors to continue with the vision and be advocates for future festivals.
"It's extremely important that the core group of people that have been extremely supportive of Amaka and have the vision for arts in Zambia can continue to work together and some of the challenges that the team has faced will be overcome by a momentum that we can build on from this," she said.
The Amaka Arts Festival incorporated fashion, literary works, visual arts, film, dance and music, with a day being allotted to each discipline. Friday's gala was dedicated to dance, with over 12 local and international groups performing before sponsors and invited guests.
The festival ended yesterday with a music concert at the Barclays Sports Complex in Lusaka.
Festival director Chilufya Chilangwa said the event would become a permanent feature on Zambia's arts calendar.
"Amaka is not going anywhere; we are here to stay. It is an annual event and it will continue being an annual event. Our long-term vision is to build a school of the arts and we're not going to stop till we lay the first brick of that school," said Chilangwa.
Labels: CHARLOTTE SCOTT
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