Social media free-for-all is scourge of modern society

I AM getting more angry. Why? Because as a nation it appears that a good percentage of us are losing all sense of logic, love for each other, respect for the law, family values and we are manipulated and rattled by the trolls of the internet/social media with no effective government action.

I’m furious that non-action is allowing this viper’s nest of degenerates to get away with it. I’m angry because many of us believe and listen to the new “gods of influences”, yes, social media manipulated by fake news and fabricated information/history.

Yes, I get even angrier that this is allowed to flourish by regulatory authority and the media’s lack of responsibility. I’m flabbergasted that responsibility for cleansing this scourge should also rest in the hands of internet/platform companies that have fostered this festering medium and continue without accountability.

I am angry and disappointed that there is no committed government intervention. I’m stupefied that aside from the current crisis, more effort is spent by the opposition to focus on “I gotcha you moments” – which mostly are pathetic. I get angrier and sad when younger minds are manipulated and are bullied on these platforms that spew evil.

I get totally angry because this dilemma continues to thrive and it is because we accept that our democracy is based on a principle of freedom of speech, which is a right that we all have but is regrettably taken advantage of for sinister objectives.

I even get angrier because as a nation we are quiet about this dilemma and we let it ride when we must rein it in, given it is wrong, slanderous, hateful, vicious, bullying and racist in many cases.

I’m angry because this is not freedom of the press or speech as it is meant to be. I’m most angry as it is an admission that leadership on all levels of government/ opposition (previous and current) has failed us as no substantial solutions have been tabled and that we have lost the plot.

I’m angry because this has contributed somewhat to society’s moral decay, whereby we have mislaid the art of respect, lacking in self-discipline, lost personal control of our health, dropkicked any respect for the rule of law and order and lost the plot in the education field.

COVID-19 is certainly creating health concerns and economic misery for an unknown time frame, but looking at the positives, it may become a panacea for our ills and dysfunctionalities whereby it is a wake up call for our complacency to be righted.

One can only hope and think alike. Australia continues to be the lucky country so let’s all wake up and make it better. NICK ISRAEL, PACIFIC PINES