A Rising Need To Guard Against Trials By Social Media

Kamal Chadha

It is with growing alarm and frustration that many have watched a company that has the honour of having bagged over many years, several awards of the highest repute in the shipping industry, being maligned blatantly and without let on social media.

The company I am referring to is a leading entity of the global shipping industry, one that employs as well as trains seafarers in the thousands, is a veteran of an industry that transports over 90% of goods around the world, and has a global presence with offices in several international capitals.
The perpetrators of this ‘trial on social media’ are the relatives, friends or sympathizers of a seafarer who died aboard a ship, and who appear to be not entirely satisfied with the company’s enquiry into the death of the said seafarer.

The malicious video doing the rounds on social media however, would to most of us appear obviously concocted, with totally dubious captions, and unrelated imagery. But a large segment of people might be easily misled by its content and for a variety of reasons fall prey to the falsehood therein.

The attempt is quite apparently to besmirch the reputation of a company with whom the perpetrator has reason to be dissatisfied in some manner. But the manner in which social media is being used in this case, to put up baseless allegations and thereby bring pressure on the company to make concessions of some sort, can lead to perhaps not only wrecking the careers of people of high standing, but also pile disrepute on the entire shipping industry, and not to mention, bring grief to the seafarers who were onboard the ship when the incident occurred.

The Indian seafaring industry is a well-established one, with over 250,000 active seafarers, and all set to double these numbers by 2025. More than 200 companies employ merchant navy seafarers from India who work aboard ships and in company offices at very lucrative earnings that allow for a fairly upmarket lifestyle. It is a profession that makes Indians and India proud to be part of, and fetches huge monetary benefits to the nation’s economy.

The seafaring (or shipmanning) industry functions under a plethora of local, national and international laws, rules & regulations. In fact many feel that it is probably the most regulated industry in the world.

Despite the robust regulatory frameworks in place however, incidents involving seafarers, unfortunately, may happen on board. Loss of life or serious injury to a loved one is hard on the family. However, resorting to social media to settle scores, and cast aspersions on organizations and their employees, does not do justice to the reputation of thousands of seafarers who man the ships, and their employers. The seafaring profession is amongst the most noble and deserves to be treated with greater dignity, fairness and respect.

However, reputation assaults on social media are too easy, can be effortlessly carried out as an alternative to fair and lawful means, and can embarrass extensively the victims who may have little or no recourse to their defence on social mediums. Moreover, the very nature of the worldwide web allows perpetrators of wrong doing on social mediums to carry on with their assaults without fear of legal reprisals.

The tools available today to create content and broadcast it on social media are so deadly efficient, that it’s becoming harder and harder to figure out what is real and what is fake. It behoves us all, therefore, to filter all social media messages through our intelligence & knowledge before giving in to the temptation of clicking ‘Forward’. After all, it is not only the reputations of individuals, but also of companies that provide livelihood to thousands, and an entire industry, that are at stake.

Leading industry bodies MASSA & FOSMA, whose member-lines provide employment to over 70% of the Indian seafarers serving in the global arena, have expressed serious concern and anguish at such irresponsible attacks in the social media.

They are of the opinion that such attacks only serve to drive a negative and adverse perception of the industry, and cause damage to the reputation of about 250,000 Indian seafarers who make an honest living and keep the global supply chains running.

Marex Media