Selective approach of media raises eyebrows
A lot of people in the Kingdom took lead in condemning the deadly terror attacks carried out by the Islamic State (IS) in France on Friday.
In the meantime, the ignorance of other terror attacks by the Western media also came under attack by the social media users of Bahrain.
Social media giant Facebook came up with an option to change the profile photo with French flag, to express condemnation. But this move was criticised by some section of social media users as Facebook ignored the massacre carried out by IS in Lebanon on Thursday. Lebanon lost 41 people, in the deadliest attack it experienced since the end of its civil war in 1990.
In an assault by Al Shabab militants, 147 people lost their lives in Kenya in last April. Not only the global media, but also the social media remained silent at it. But the France incident received a huge response by media as well as social media, invoking criticism from many social media activists.
Facebook user Murtaza Sumerian called out this selective approach of media and said, “I refuse to change my profile’s picture with the French flag colours until Lebanon’s, Palestine, Bahrain’s, Syria’s and Iraq’s flag are added as well! Terrorism is condemned everywhere, not just where the media chooses to report!”
Twitter user Mishaal Ali questioned, “Why only French flag everywhere?,” and tagged Burma, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Paris, Syria and Palestine, sending a clear message to the world that every terror act should be condemned.
Since 2011, as many as 19 people from Bahrain’s security forces have lost lives in the Kingdom in terror attacks. The Bahraini security officials have seized a huge quantity of bomb making materials, which have been traced back to Iran.
Defend Bahrain, a popular Facebook page in Bahrain, also posted a post, highlighting the excessive prominence received by Paris attack. The post stated that the world remained silent when countries like Baghdad, Syria Palestine came under violent attack.
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