Civility online

Like any other human invention, online social networks can be a source of good or ill depending on the intentions and behavior of subscribers.

The great good of networks like Facebook and the microblogging website Twitter came to the fore in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009.

Then,  after Typhoon Sendong pummeled the Visayas and Mindanao last December, and after an earthquake killed dozens in Negros Oriental last week, users of social networks helped post appeals and guidelines for sending aid to casualties.

It is therefore distressing that a conflict between cousins—both of them Cebuanas and nurses from Talisay City— that played out on Facebook  has escalated into a full-blown case in court.

One womean  sued  her cousin for allegedly besmirching her reputation by posting crude online comments.

The unsavory terms,  read in a network of more  than 600 online friends, described the complainant, a married woman, as being unfaithful to her spouse who is an overseas seaman.

The stakes are P1.4 million in damages and the magnified public attention on their personal quarrel.

Even as defenders of press freedom around the world have taken steps towards decriminalizing libel, with the Philippine’ Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility advocating a similar move here, we recognize that an individual person’s right to a good name is sacred.

Without going into the merits of what could be Cebu’s first Facebook libel case, all online users should realize the force of   damaging comments posted in the Internet.  These can be more  poisonous than  word-of-mouth rumors because of the speed  with which virtual chatter goes around the world.

Just take the case of  “Ahcee Flores” who  wished on Twitter that Visayans would be wiped out by tidal waves following last week’s eartuqake.

Netizens responded to the insensitive remarks with a barrage of angry tweets and stat updates, with some hunting down her real address.

Wasted energy and vitriol spreading in real time is part of the tragedy spurred by engaging in unethical behavior on the Internet.

The digital screen may “virtualize” the identity of persons we speak of but the Net has no power to remove the virtus, the power of an interlocutor’s right to treatment with respect, decency and civility.

Only when we remember this will we easily retreat from the temptation of a  free-for-all instead of promoting  communication that builds relationships online.