Social media users should be responsible

INDEED, social media has taught me a crucial lesson on the evil of freedom. Here, everybody is free to advocate their ideas. It only costs them data. We live in an age where information travels at the speed of light and sound. Yet we are yet to come to terms with the fact that as useful as the social media can be, they can be used to fan the embers of war.

There are boundaries in every area of human engagement; these boundaries are put in place to ensure that mutual respect for culture and other idiosyncrasies are respected. There are currently one hundred and twenty three democracies in the world, out of the existing one hundred and ninety two countries. You can hardly find ten of these democratic states with the same style of government, and yet they’re all democracies.

The most basic measure of democracy is electoral efficacy. If a nation runs a free and fair election, with competing parties or individuals with varied representative interests, it can be classified as a democracy.

You are APC’s problem, CUPP replies Oshiomhole

For example, the British parliamentary democracy, with the presence of the Queen as a ceremonial head stands in sharp contrast to the American and French representative democracies. The Chinese, Japanese and the Iranian democracies are not similar; and yet, they’re all democracies.

Most western countries have representative systems. Switzerland is a rare example of a country with instruments of direct democracy (at the levels of the municipalities, cantons, and federal state). In Switzerland, citizens have more power than in a representative democracy.

Thus, on the global stage, individual country enjoys the discretion of formulating its own democratic ideas, systems and values.

There are many countries where the parliamentary mace is not relevant; and there are many more where the decision of the Electoral College supersedes the dominant view of the populace.

We differ and we should ensure that in all ways and manners we should respect our differences and peculiarities.

Abu Mazeedah, [email protected]