EDITORIAL - Keep it clean

Earlier this week during the debate on the Telecommunications (Amendment) Act, several Members of Parliament drew to the Speaker of the House’s attention, the seemingly increasing number of persons who are hiding behind their electronic devices and spreading rumour and slander, or even threatening persons.

We, too, have concerns about these persons who are engaging in this type of behaviour, with our greatest concern being that these individuals appear to be able to write whatever they want to about people, true or false, and disseminate it to all and sundry, and there are no repercussions for their actions. So we were therefore pleased to hear Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite indicate during that same debate, that there are persons who had caught their attention and prosecutions are likely.

While a few cases of this nature have been brought before the courts in recent times, they have only been a handful, which means most of them are getting away with their actions. Thus AG Brathwaite’s comments heartened us, as it means that contrary to what we thought, these cowards are not going to get off scot-free.

What is equally important is that those who are victims of these crimes, and they are crimes under the Computer Misuse Act, must report them to the police and have the matters investigated. The unfortunate reality is that there are several people using blogs and social media sites to spread rumours, and if the authorities have to make an example of some of them to get the others to cut out that unsavoury behaviour, then we say, go for it!

Now we are not for a moment suggesting that Barbados become a society that stops individuals from expressing their views on any matter, and while we believe in freedom of speech, persons must also be prepared that where their actions cause harm to others, to deal with the consequences. We in the media know only too well about paying the price, literally, for printing or broadcasting libellous and defamatory material. In the same way we are held accountable, those who use social media and the like to slander a person’s name and destroy their character should also be held to account for their actions.

We all know of these sites based here and abroad through which persons create posts, and now some are even using Facebook Live to host programmes that are simply bent on tarnishing the reputations of some of our people, particularly those who occupy positions of authority in this land. More often than not our politicians are the targets, and this type of behaviour is certainly not in keeping with our culture, and we think it wise to send out a word of caution to those who are bent on doing harm to others to cease and desist.

Already there are a number of posts in circulation that are criticising various candidates and Ministers of Government. We are seeing such things as videos and pictures, and just recently someone took video from a political meeting and manipulated it with the express view of portraying that individual in a negative light. So we are of the firm belief that with the general election right around the corner, our people need to be given a gentle reminder about the dos and don’ts relative to the Computer Misuse Act and campaigning in general.

Frankly, too, we would like to appeal to all politicians and persons who intend to speak on political platforms this elections, to keep it clean. There is no need to resort to name calling just to drum up support for your campaigns – you can be critical without being nasty.