Hate finds a new highway

The truth is out there. And so is a lot of abuse that has nothing to do with the truth. Sarahah, the app of the moment, was meant to send some truth our way; what a lot of people are getting instead is unbridled abuse.

Sarahah aims to help you receive honest feedback, ensuring the commenters’ anonymity. Built by Saudi programmer Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq, its name is from the Arabic word for ‘candour’. But ‘candour’ means something else for trolls.

Rafiul Alom Rahman, a former DU student, posted a screenshot of the hate messages he had been receiving on the app and wrote a Facebook post: “Okay. Sarahah has been wonderful to me! But here’s something I couldn’t hide. A stark reminder that if you are a woman or a queer person or someone who actively advocates sexual rights in the public space, you are bound to receive such messages.” Women are easy targets. Amrita Joseph*, a graphics professional from Gurgaon, says that her Sarahah profile has been flooded with nice messages from friends and colleagues, but a lot of trolls are asking for sexual favours. “I have people asking what my favourite sexual positions are, and if I’d like to try them with some stranger,” she says. “Thankfully, the app has a great blocking mechanism.”

Delhi-based psychologist Ankit Katyal feels that users should know what they’re signing up for. “Youngsters expect good messages that will give them something to share on social media, but [they] should be well aware that hate, too, will find its way,” he says. Anushri Jain, a media researcher, advises, “Users should segregate the bad from the good. There’s a lot of good [in] the app.”