War across screens

Recently, while the war between India and Pakistan erupted along physical borders, a more insidious war has been playing out on screens. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram became battlegrounds of narratives where videos, reels, and memes were crafted, amplified, and weaponised. This war of narratives blurred the lines between patriotism and propaganda, information, and disinformation.

While social media often celebrated for its role in bridging societies and democratizing voices, is now emerging as powerful and dangerous social institution. With reaching over billions of households across class, gender, and geographical divide, social media has become as influential, if not more-than traditional media in shaping public consciousness, influencing perceptions, and validating biases.

Unlike traditional media like television, which operates within relatively controlled editorial processes, and national regulations, the flow of information or disinformation on social media is unparalleled. A video-regardless of its authenticity-can cross borders in seconds, reaching millions within minutes, shaping the consciousness of people.

The content on screens, weather news, vlogs, or reels acts as a tool of memory production-embedding specific interpretations of identity, war, and history in public consciousness, particularly among youth. As the collective memory theory posits, memory is not individual but socially constructed and reinforced through group narratives, institutions, and symbols. Media, in general and social media in particular plays a vital role in shaping what is remembered, how, and by whom.

Social media platforms serve as powerful tools of collective memory, where images of violence and victory are archived and recirculated to shape how entire generations recall conflict and national belonging. Social media form the basis of how entire generations-particularly Gen Z-will come to understand conflict. For many young users, whose first impressions of conflict are shaped by viral content rather than historical context. The emotionally charged narratives become the foundation of their collective memory, while nuanced or peaceful perspectives are drowned in the noise of digital nationalism.

Even after the ceasefire agreement reached through 'U.S.-led mediation', the narrative war grew louder and extreme on screens. Across digital platforms, airstrikes were cheered. The images of war planes and 'patriotic' hashtags, with each claiming 'victory' over the other, as it were a cricket match. Such content and sentiments are not incidental. They are the result of a long-standing, carefully constructed discourse-one that casts the other as perpetually threatening, inferior, and undeserving of empathy. The repetition of this content normalises aggression. It turns complex geopolitical issues into black-and-white spectacles of patriotism and hate.

Over time, the effects of war on screen does not fade with a ceasefire; it lingers, and embeds itself into our everyday conversations, in classrooms, and eventually become part of our collective memory. Social media platforms are becoming more powerful than ever. With power comes responsibility. The responsibility to recognize what we share, amplify, or ignore-contributes to the stories we construct about those on the other side of the screen. Over time, they become part of our cultural beliefs, which are harder to dismantle than they are to share. They influence how future generations understand history and identity. And impact whether we move toward peace or remain entrenched in cycles of conflict and fear.

Rida Riaz holds PhD in Sociology and teaches at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the intersections of gender, migration, and digital culture within South Asian communities.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).