#ruined my life at age 11 being racist and homophobic and generally just awful as a whole

[backfliips]

I want to move out so bad god i hate living here with these awful people

[a-digi-tale-blog]

Public Shaming: A Story of Digital Justice.

“Shame and humiliation in criminal justice have become increasingly commodified, enacted, and experienced through hybrid forms of mass media that blur the boundaries of reality and entertainment”  (Kohm, 2009). The concept of public shaming has been practiced through a variety of eras, and in a wide range of cultures. Practices may have included mob justice, verbal or physical abuse, or forcing the perpetrators to wear something that clearly identified their crime to the public. However in the digital age, public shaming has relocated and opened up shop in various social media platforms; transforming itself into a weapon of mass destruction for a selective amount of individuals.

One popular example of this type of social destruction is Justine Sacco, who famously tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Sacco’s personal life blew up, she received death threats, and lost her job. However her story is not the only one, and the list of ‘victims’ is on the rise. This method of justice can seem terrifying and even lethal. With the case of Justine Sacco, she later apologized and tried to explain what she has meant by the tweet saying

“To me it was so insane of a comment for anyone to make. I thought there was no way that anyone could possibly think it was literal … Unfortunately, I am not a character on ‘South Park’ or a comedian, so I had no business commenting on the epidemic in such a politically incorrect manner on a public platform. To put it simply, I wasn’t trying to raise awareness of AIDS or piss off the world or ruin my life. Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble when it comes to what is going on in the third world. I was making fun of that bubble.” (Waterflow, 2015).

While it may be easier to generalize and condemn public shaming all together, this is incorrect. Although digital shaming is sometimes abused; it can offer an ethically acceptable means of punishment (Kohm, 2009). Of course, this requires that it be used properly.

Let us consider the very recent online explosion of two University of Pretoria students who ‘accidentally’ sent a video of themselves, while intoxicated, expressing anger over a stolen phone. Bodene Benade and Catherine Reynders use the extremely derogatory K-word several times, and while giggling in between one shouts “I’m so fucking done with these blacks!” The video was received by the pair’s 4th year Physiotherapy Whatsapp group. Bad move.

http://perdeby.co.za/sections/news/5856-up-students-film-themselves-using-k-word

Bodene Benade immediately responded to her accidental Whatsapp slip with an instant apology – complete with a selection of emoji’s. she writes, “So sorry guys! Please ignore that” later continuing “Please forgive me, we are all human and have all made mistakes and this is an awful one on my part.” However in the video she cautions, “don’t play this in front of Zomani” meaning that she knew what she was saying was incorrect.

But no one was going to ‘ignore’ the blatantly racist comments. The damage was already done – with the video on its way to being viral on several social media platforms. It was interesting to watch the ‘drama’ unfold (as one student replied on the Whatsapp group), and there was great speculation about what legal action would be taken against the extremely racist pair.

One of the first posts which surfaced on social media was by a user, Miles Lovell. The post included the vile video, photos of the girls and screenshots of their respective Instagram pages, as well as copies of the aftermath that took place in the Physiotherapy Whatsapp group. Lovell started off by explaining the video and the two involved, and concluded his post by saying;

“Hate speech of this magnitude is a criminal offence.

Let us not forget this.

Let us ensure that they never will either.”

Ironically, Lovell’s post was removed later by Facebook for constituting as hate speech.

After this post started to spread rapidly throughout, and across other platforms, users started standing (virtually) in solidarity with the post’s ethos. The comments started flooding in, people were enraged, offended and embarrassed.

Objectively, it is rather fascinating to observe the ‘justice system’ that the internet functions as during certain situations. This post is an example of the power that social media has in acting as a space where justice can be sought, and where anyone is able to act as a judge or jury. The ‘social jury’ of Facebook started to pick up speed. Users saying that the girls should be expelled, that their parents should be held accountable for raising daughters who seemed so comfortable engaging in racism (on camera nonetheless!) Users wanted answers, wanted to see suitable punishment, and they started looking to larger institutions to take leadership on the matter.

Right on time, the University of Pretoria released a Facebook statement of their own;

By they were not the only ones to get involved as online ‘investigators’ began to uncover information about Bodene Benade and Catherine Reynders. Reynders was Miss Benoni, and a Blue Bulls cheerleader. shockingly she was also being funded by the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation. Due to the internet’s power of association both parties very quickly announced their disapproval of the events that had occurred. 

SARugbyMag.co.za (http://m.sarugbymag.co.za/?postslug=/blog/details/Bulls-give-cheerleader-the-boot#/Bulls-give-cheerleader-the-boot) published an article featuring an image of a perky looking Reynders in Blue, and made sure to add that the Blue Bulls did not hire her directly. Similarly, the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation withdrew the student’s bursary. A few wrong buttons pressed on an Iphone, and two lives destroyed.

Public shaming should only be used when the perpetrator has clearly done wrong. However, online jurisdiction is more complicated and differs from actual criminal law. There are no set rules from which to decide if this method of action is wrong or right. Within the digital realm, people are governed by societal norms, current traditions, and emotion (Ronson 2015). This means that the phenomenon of public shaming can manifest in a messy, chaotic, and incoherent manner. However, there are definitely positives to this method of punishment.

For example, it proves a point. The pair in the video is clearly wrong in what they have done and said, and the public scrutiny that they have received is deserved. Instances like these which have happened before and which will continue to occur, provide an example for the mass public on how not to behave, and provides an example of what will happen if one decides to continue being racist, sexist, or homophobic (Ronson 2015). 

Online cases like these are highly accessible to the public and are able to shape the ways in which people understand racism or other prejudices, and the ways they may behave moving forward.  The digital realm is harsh and cut-throat, but this is how we as a marvelous modern society are able to hold unjust parties accountable (without having to go through the legal system). It forces large institutions like the University of Pretoria, and the Blue blues, to answer up, to take action, to show that racism will not be tolerated under any circumstances.  

 Reference List:

Kohm, SA. (2009) Naming Shaming and criminal justice: Mass-mediated humiliation as entertainment and punishment. Crime Media Culture 5.2

Waterflow, L. (2015) I lost my job, my reputation and I'm not able to date anymore': Former PR worker reveals how she destroyed her life one year after sending 'racist' tweet before trip to Africa. Mail Online: Accessed 1/11/2017

Ronson, J. (2015)  So You've Been Publicly Shamed. London: Picador