Cyber Vigilantism
Cyber Vigilantism is a situation in which people on these online platforms attempts to achieve something on online platforms through unauthorized means. The people who take up these actions are in most cases, self-appointed and they usually do not answer to anyone except for the satisfaction of their selfish gains. Most of the time, these people tackle issues that relate to the social world in terms of identification of the events that take place that are considered against the social norms. Ideally, the online community has taken matters in their own hands more than once, and they have bullied some people innocently. In some cases, they have condemned lousy behavior in the society. Ideally, identifying the contemporary forms of cyber vigilantism can aid in enhancing the understanding of the concept of cyber vigilantism.
Some of the most common acts of these cyber vigilantes is the use of speech that is made up of threats and warnings about a certain issue. Silva supports that “Cyber vigilantism, perceived as the variation of vigilantism taking place in the Internet and through information systems, is often associated with mass retaliation and collective effort”. For example, people may take up an issue such as a statement of problem that an individual offered, and the vigilantes absorb the joke and not only make fun of the speech that was offered but also the person. Following the fact that the joke might be considered to be funny, the subject to the instance of cyberbullying might face ridicule or even total social ban since everyone on the online platforms will be seeking revenge or cause harm. There are cases when the people who were subjected to this kind of cyberbullying have committed suicide since they are duped into believing that there is nothing else left for them in this world. Besides, some of the messages that these people received from the online platforms are mostly threats and some even go to the extends of demanding that the victims die.
Another form of the cyber Vigilante is the creation, and the establishment of baseless accusations that are directed towards someone and using technological advancements to incriminate a person and, by so doing, make everyone believe that what they are saying about the victim to be true. In other cases, when a situation hits up in relation to the factors that had already been established in the physical society, the vigilantes are responsible for spicing it up and ensuring that the victim goes into a social suicide. According to Silva, “Vigilantism and harm (or a promise of harm) are correlated: vigilantes exploit violence as retaliation”. Most of the time, the violence or the negative energy that was already existing in the online arenas and the take advantage by catalyzing the reaction and as a result, they enjoy the fight in the background. In some case, people have employed the use of photoshopping to incriminate another person and such instance have led to divorce in marriages, and in worst-case scenarios, quitting from the social arena.
Conclusively, the cyber vigilantes are the worst of their kind when it comes to damaging the reputation of one person. Since these people always hide their identities and so they have no right to tell what is wrong or right. Cyberbullying is an essential aspect in the contemporary society. Such is because most of the people are subject to discrimination and emotional torture. Also, baseless accusations can come up from these sites.
Work Cited
Silva, K. K. “Vigilantism and cooperative criminal justice: is there a place for cybersecurity vigilantes in cybercrime fighting?.” International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 32.1 (2018): 21-36.