Social Media Toolkits: The 'Weapon' That Turned Into India's COVID-19 Assets

Foreign Policy

In the past years, it has been established that the power of social media can cause many things — revolutions, education, change, and so on. In India, it sometimes takes an odd turn and reaches the destination of treason — so much so, that it could land you in jail.

Not too long ago, climate activist Disha Ravi was imprisoned for editing a document that was essentially a toolkit. What caused national hue and cry about the youngster somehow inciting hate by being a contributor to the toolkit, is no more than a collective resource document used to mobilise protests and movements through consolidated information.

During the ongoing apocalypse of 2021 and the sheer devastation due to COVID-19, social media has simply seen a significant increase in toolkits being circulated. By nature, these are just files of collected information to be disseminated to those who need it. From counts of available hospital beds to oxygen concentrators and food delivery services to pet boardings, these documents have been no short of life-saving for some.

After essentially being told by the leaders of our country that we must fight this pandemic ourselves, these very ‘toolkits’ that caused them pain just a few months ago are at our rescue.

One truly gets to see solidarity when the majority of your social media platforms look like an exchange of important information and resources. What scared the government at one point is the toolkit doing its job — allowing people access to their needs. Online documents or toolkits have taken over and are matching those devoid of what they need with those that possess it, and unfortunately, at this time, there are innumerable such people.

It will not be surprising if these lists of resources, too, may be flagged by those in power — essentially, it is not different from Disha Ravi’s toolkit. They provide resources in the absence of the government to carry out tasks the government will not. It is a conversation of taking matters into our own hands. Now, whether that be with the help of a simple online document matters far less to the authorities as much as it does that it is the citizens yielding power.

And so, you see, it was never about the toolkit. The uproar from the national capital did not pertain simply to a toolkit that floated around on social media that a nature-loving student from Bengaluru made a change to. It was, and still is about us realising that the real power lies with us — the power to mobilise and create change, and to maybe save a life. Ever-increasing number of lists, infographics and phonebooks of contacts later, social media has begun to resemble a vast, far-reaching toolkit. This particular toolkit, however, is doing the job the government should be paying their unlimited attention to.

But, of course, who then, will tend to the election rallies?