Recently, a top official in an online payment company abused his co-worker with a public tweet. And, it cost him his job. Another airline company official kicked up a storm when he made abusive tweets about passengers. In Agra, a police complaint was filed against a youth for posting obscene comments about a political party. And closer home, director Ram Gopal Varma’s lewd tweet on Rajinikanth’s look in Kochadaiiyaan didn’t go down well either.
An abusive tweet against anyone, be it politician, celebrities, feminists or a company management may not be such a great idea. “Anyone who is a target of online abuse can refer a police complaint with the cyber cell. A crime profiling analyses the person’s social behaviour, his SMSes, tweets, and tracks him down to the IP address from where he operates. Employees often use a fictitious profile to express their unhappiness over a co-worker or the management,” says V. Rajendran, cyber law attorney and president of Cyber Society of India.
He mentions a couple of cases of abusive behaviour where someone exposed an extra-marital affair his colleague was having, in order to settle a personal score. In another case, retired professors abused former colleagues via social media.
“When there is a delay in salary, promotions, postings or bonus, employees vent their anger with a spur-of-the-moment tweet,” says P.C. Balasubramaniam, who works with a TV channel. However, most management keep a watch on employees’ online behaviour, their posts, status messages, photos, cartoons, etc.
An emotional outburst on a public platform might provide fleeting relief, but there could be negative repercussions to that. Apply restraint while posting your opinion, advises Rajendran. “Such grievances will remain unattended. So, why bring it up on the public forum.”
It is not uncommon for employers to entrust someone with the job of profiling a prospective employee’s social behaviour, through his tweets and facebook posts. It helps them in choosing the right candidate for the job.
A. Shamir, a young film editor, recalls how a casual tweetof an actor from Andhra about Tamil heroines put her career at stake. He also speaks of how someone created a fake online account of film director Hari and used it to send abusive posts because of a personal grudge. “Any social media is a double-edge sword. You can share and consume a lot of information, but at the same time tread carefully while posting your opinion,” he says.
For small companies, abusive tweets from ex-employees could be damaging. Says A.H. Arun Kumar, who runs a software company, “We took the help of cyber cell to remove the post that referred to us as fraudsters. The social media’s bane is the freedom it offers to anyone, including abusers,” he adds.
But sometimes, the tweets bring home some advantages. “When a software company failed to issue promised appointment orders, over 800 affected students logged on to Twitter and made the issue global with their tweets. The company officials had to apologise and addressed the issue,” says Shamir.
Remember to…
Exercise restraint while expressing opinions, especially about caste, communities, politics, and workplace
Stop with simple thoughts such as an opinion on a film, etc
If affected, look for techno-legal solutions. Approach the cyber cell
Document the abusive messages with print-outs or screenshots
Block the abuser, unfollow and end all communication
In case the abuser is known, try to sort out the issue face-to-face
