Misuse of Social Media: A Painful Reality
By: DR Aftab Jan
There was a time when Kashmir was the abode of wisdom, dignity, and respect for learning. People honored scholars, teachers, and elders, knowing that true knowledge required years of study, humility, and sincerity. But now, a storm is raging through our land—a storm of social media misused in the worst ways.
Western countries, despite their flaws, have largely used social media and technology to grow: building businesses, spreading education, inventing new tools, and advancing medicine and science. They used these tools to solve problems and strengthen their societies.
In Kashmir, however, this same powerful tool has become like poison in our hands. Instead of using social media to spread knowledge or improve lives, many people waste endless hours making shallow videos, performing stunts, fighting online, sharing vulgar dances, and exposing private matters of others, all in the name of likes, views, and fake fame.
They chase trends that clash with our culture and Islamic values, forgetting the beauty, modesty, and honor for which Kashmir was once known. The Qur’an reminds us: “And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart — about all those [one] will be questioned.” (Qur’an 17:36). Yet today, people rush to speak on matters they do not understand, damaging reputations and spreading falsehoods.
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ warned, “It is enough falsehood for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” (Sahih Muslim). Instead of verifying facts, many share rumors and lies, forgetting that every word we speak or write will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement. It breaks my heart to see how we tear each other down, reveal private lives, and destroy one another’s honor for a few moments of online fame.
Technology that could have built a brighter future for Kashmir is instead tearing our society apart. Our valley, once celebrated for poets, saints, scholars, and deep Islamic values, is turning into a stage for drama, vulgarity, and endless noise. Worse still, many feel no shame for how far we are falling behind.
We are forgetting that our Prophet ﷺ said, “Modesty is part of faith.” (Bukhari and Muslim). But modesty and respect are being replaced by shamelessness and spectacle. Technology should have been our tool for progress, knowledge, and serving humanity, yet it has become a weapon that wounds our own society, robbing Kashmir of its soul, piece by piece.
In Kashmir today, the title of “journalist” has lost its meaning. People with no training in journalism, no knowledge of ethics, truth, or responsibility, simply pick up a microphone and start recording others as if they’ve earned that right. They rush into streets, cameras rolling, forcing innocent people into the spotlight. They record private matters, spread rumors, and shatter lives—all for a few seconds of viral fame.
It breaks the heart because they humiliate good people and destroy families, caring nothing for the wounds they leave behind. Islam warns us: “A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hands others are safe.” (Bukhari). Yet these self-proclaimed journalists use words like knives, cutting through people’s honor without mercy. Instead of holding the powerful accountable, they attack ordinary people because it’s easier and more dramatic.
The Qur’an forbids slander and spying, saying: “Do not spy, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?” (Qur’an 49:12). But they feast on others’ dignity as if it’s entertainment. Science tells us that public shaming and lies cause deep trauma and mental harm, leaving scars that never fully heal.
Journalism is supposed to protect truth and justice, but here it has become a cruel stage where people’s pain is sold for views. And the worst wound of all is that society applauds them, forgetting that destroying a person’s honor is one of the gravest sins before God and humanity. This is not journalism—it’s violence with a camera. And Kashmir is bleeding because of it.
Even worse is how social media in Kashmir has fallen into the hands of people who pretend to be experts in everything. People who can hardly read or write open Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and Instagram accounts and suddenly call themselves doctors, religious scholars, educationists, and political analysts. They speak boldly on topics that real doctors, teachers, and scholars approach with caution and years of study.
They give health advice without any medical degree, telling people to stop medicines or avoid vaccines, pushing herbs as miracle cures, while science warns that such misinformation can kill. People trust them blindly, stop real treatments, and sometimes pay with their health—or even their lives.
The misuse of social media is tearing apart the moral fabric of our youth in Kashmir. Instead of following scholars, poets, and thinkers, many young people now idolize influencers who spread vulgarity and shameless trends that clash with our culture and faith. Boys and girls proudly copy dances, rude language, and revealing styles they see online, thinking fame comes from showing off or exposing private lives.
The Prophet ﷺ warned, “Modesty is part of faith.” (Bukhari and Muslim), but modesty is fading under the bright lights of social media. Parents watch helplessly as this poison spreads fast, knowing that scientific studies show how repeated exposure to vulgar content changes brain patterns, making shamelessness seem normal.
Islam teaches that our eyes, tongues, and hearts will be questioned on the Day of Judgement (Qur’an 17:36), yet many post and share harmful things without a second thought. Social ethics demand we protect our society by speaking truth, respecting privacy, and sharing only what is beneficial.
Instead, social media today rewards those who shout the loudest, spread drama, or display indecency. Pages that teach Islam, the Qur’an, knowledge, and good character are drowned under a flood of noise and filth. We must pause before posting, ask: Is it true? Is it beneficial? Will it harm anyone?
Kashmir deserves better—a society built on truth, wisdom, and respect, not fake fame. And while this dark phase is painful, it is not final. We still have among us the quiet voices of truth, the patient scholars, the parents raising children with faith and values, the teachers who teach with their hearts, and the youth who still long for meaning over popularity.
If we choose those voices, and if we begin using social media not to mock, but to heal—not to divide, but to build—then Kashmir will once again rise with dignity. Let us not let likes blind us to what is right.
Let us use our words, our screens, our voices to lift each other, to spread truth, to defend the honor of our society. Because Kashmir deserves more than entertainment and ego—it deserves vision, values, and victory of the soul. For the sake of our children, and for the soul of this valley, the time to wake up is now.
