Social media has become 'weapon of mass distraction', says Bombay HC judge
Panaji (PTI): Social media or mass media have become weapons of mass distraction, but there are no concerted efforts yet to tackle them, Justice Mahesh Sonak of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court said on Saturday.
Addressing the students of G R Kare College of Law in Margao town during a lecture series 'GRK-Law Talks', Justice Sonak also said that he prefers to remain "uninformed" about several issues by not reading or seeing the news, which he thinks is "better than being misinformed".
"Today, we live in an age where we adore and glorify machines like computers and smartphones that think. But we are extremely suspicious or even wary of the human beings that attempt to think," he said.
"Artificial intelligence has its own merits, but it would be a sad day and sad world if we were to mortgage our ability to think, our ability to make intelligent and, moreover, sensitive choices, to a machine or an algorithm, however intelligent it may be," Justice Sonak said.
"We should not want to atrophy our thinking faculties lest there is no difference between a human being and a machine. We cannot, or at least we should not, let humankind be robbed of its humanity," he added.
Justice Sonak said that this capacity to think clearly, independently and fearlessly would enable a student to sift, discern, and, if necessary, reject the ideas and ideologies that are perpetually inflicted by mass media tools that are growing powerful each hour.
"A few decades ago, the world was at war against WMDs - weapons of mass destruction. Today, social media or the mass media have become weapons of mass distraction and yet there are no concerted efforts to battle them," he opined.
The judge said that in his own way, by way of experimentation, he has been on a "news diet" for almost four years.
"By not reading or seeing the news, I realise that I am uninformed about several issues. But I guess this is better than being misinformed. So, the choice, often, is between uninformed and misinformed," he added.
President of Vidya Vikas Academy Nitin Kunkolienkar, Vice President Pritam Moraes and Principal of the college Doretti Simoes were present at the event.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
