The practice of social McCarthyism

There is an electronic army out there that has plenty of free time and attacks its rivals in such a provocative manner. There is a case of unprecedented chauvinism, categorization and McCarthyism.

When an incident occurs, dozens of questions are made demanding a stance on every subject no matter how irrelevant it is to your interests and responsibilities. What’s dangerous is that this extent of complaints affects social peace and creates hostilities. Not only that, but these complaints also do not hold any scientific value or make intellectual contributions, and they do not have any positive political effects.

Twitter continuously examines others. Some therefore categorize themselves as the role model whom others must follow. This, however, implies recommending oneself and such claims oppose the values and concepts of Sharia (Islamic law).

What’s more important is for people to abandon the inevitability of expression in every single hashtag. Life is much more than a hashtag, there is beauty in so much more.

This article was first published in Okaz on April 24.
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Turki Aldakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies. He tweets @TurkiAldakhil.