The expanding virtual universe of the twenty-first century began by featuring intimate personal relations among human beings, replacing face-to-face contact with Facebook messages. In this world, women and men could safely say unsayable things.
The virtual world now dominates national and international affairs, letting its citizens say the unsayable things. It lets political rivals trade false allegations and distort history. It incites violent groups to commit violence. Its virtual force influenced the US presidential elections and brought Donald Trump to power. WhatsApp Democracy in India has brought the oldest and the largest democracies closer.
Big lie
The virtual world makes no distinction between truth and falsehood. It endorses the key Hindu belief – Jagat mithya, this world is a big lie, Mayanagri – a city of illusions! Its leaders and citizens freely propagate and consume lies, especially during an election season. The virtual world gives them powerful tools to influence voters. Millions of WhatsApp groups and automated “likers” and “dislikers” sprout in an election season. A resourceful political party declares the strength of its information technology cells and the army of trollers. Its rapid response force strikes TV screens around the clock.
