Who is more dangerous for the state and society: the instigator of a crime or its executor? Yes, there can be a concrete legal answer to this classic question. However, on the socio-political level, the probability that a particular event will emotionally affect society often precedes the process of giving an official legal assessment of the event. This observation is an objectively proven truth in practice. Society initially reacts to a specific event on an emotional level. Therefore, the first emotions experienced inevitably create a distorted "collapse" in public views. It must also be added here that political manipulators pursuing malicious goals skillfully use this social-psychological mechanism in their treacherous activities.
In an era of rapid development of the Internet and information technologies, manipulators, deprived of moral "brakes," easily carry out the "dirty" political orders given to them through uncontrolled social networks. Of course, the activity of some political bloggers, whose operations more closely resemble racketeering in essence, is not based on the principle of justice. They simply execute specific orders given to them in exchange for money or other promises. Referring to international experience, it can be said that the targets of such manipulators’ enemy orders are usually the image of the country’s leadership, national unity, and the stability of the political system.
The described objective political picture, on the one hand, points to increasing demands for professionalism in the state governance process, and on the other hand, increases the importance of forgotten political enlightenment in preventing threatening processes. Yes, precisely for this reason, "radicalism" essentially fears and denies political enlightenment. Because political enlightenment prevents the zombification of the public consciousness of the population.
Social networks play the role of a catalyst that creates a fertile environment for political manipulations. It can even be added that this process has already developed irreversibly in many countries. Social networks falsely present politics as a hobby and encourage the development of socio-political irresponsibility in modern societies.
However, let us not forget that the "political decay" and the impoverishment of social relations did not begin with social networks. The current issue must also be approached in a global context. If we look at certain events from a historical retrospective, it is clearly seen that these trends first began with the distortion of "cultural orientations" in the public mindset. Cultural values have weakened so much that some behaviors that once repulsed people have not only become commonplace but are even imposed on society as "democratic heroism."
As the opinions and demands of society simplify in cultural relations, the need for complex ideological theories in politics diminishes. The spread of even one false socio-cultural stereotype in a specific society can not only halt humanitarian progress but also initiate degradation processes. Unlike open ideological struggle, due to long-developed social engineering in the West, the process of outer shaping of mass behavior models encounters less resistance.
Thus, in the political relations where professionalism rapidly becomes obsolete, in the era we live in, social networks have turned into a tool that creates "fake heroes." Through these "fake heroes," the process of "political decay" continues and new threats arise to the political system. It must be fundamentally remembered that social networks are the most universal tool of socio-political engineering and through this tool, a "seismic" situation can be created in a specific country. Every responsible citizen should consider this objective truth and not become a tool for criminally biased manipulations.
As a result of the efforts of global powers, the social consciousness of the modern human has been so accustomed to scandals through social engineering that "rumor" and "scandal" have become an integral part of our public life. A person, who already loses to artificial intelligence in awareness, gradually entrusts thinking to it, so the impact of the internet space on real life increases year by year. Of course, this tendency could not bypass such a complex field as political relations. It is no surprise that social networks, which are a direct product of internet technologies, have literally turned into political battlegrounds in the modern era.
"Manipulation" is one of the most frequently encountered words in the country’s information space recently. Sometimes one gets the impression that the world is managed precisely through manipulations. Bloggers and social network "phenomena" have become widely disseminated manipulation tools, and people unknowingly participate in the spread of slander and defamation. Social networking pages used for manipulation have turned into sources of income for political adventurers, demagogues, and pseudo-patriots. Manipulators use human feelings and universal values merely as pressure tools.
The strategic goals of radicals, whose purpose is merely to paint political life in black and white, are to divide society, spread seeds of total suspicion, and focus public attention solely on negative phenomena. Therefore, within this framework and within the context of the recent scandal, identifying the real instigators of the aforementioned provocation for the sake of ensuring the inviolability of national interests can be considered a more important task for the state and society. The irresponsible actions of internet hooligans must be "ignored" by society and strongly condemned. A weak hooligan cannot pose a threat to the state; his disgusting acts only cause nausea. Therefore, these kinds of behaviors of theirs do not face severe public censure today because the aforementioned "decay" process began years ago with the degradation of cultural orientations. Some events we are forced to witness are not the responsibility of today but are manifestations of processes directed over many years. "Hooligans" are merely executors of orders and will gradually replace each other. This is the unavoidable reality of the modern era. Yes, heroes are needed in any era. But the true heroes of the people are not those engaged in cheap demagogy, but the citizens who live with sincere love for their Homeland, approach their work responsibly, and make small heroic deeds every day in their work.
Asif Adil,
political scientist