No jokes please, we’re Indian

I was happy to read about the hundreds of takedown notices that have been issued over the past few weeks to users on Facebook Twitter and Instagram Apparently they were related to all kinds of videos memes and cartoons poking fun at the government and some of Indiarsquos most respected and erudite politicians I put aside my shock and horror that this material existed in the first place and thought of how thankful I was for the speed with which the government had respondedMonitoring social media for jokes may not seem like a priority in some countries but Irsquom pretty sure you donrsquot become the worldrsquos fourth largest economy without paying attention to memes that make your leaders seem ridiculous As far as I was concerned it was a proactive approach with which this objectionable content was nipped in the bud preventing millions of Indians from assuming their country was being managed by moronsFor what itrsquos worth I also believe that therersquos nothing wrong with any country being managed by a moron because I believe itrsquos this spirit of inclusivity that leads to genuine progress When ignored morons tend to spend time and energy on things that benefit only themselves If given an opportunity to run a country though they can initiate decisions that have lifealtering consequences for millions The United States of America is currently in the middle of such a transformationSpeaking of that other great democracy and supporter of free speech it was interesting to see a similar approach being adopted on those shores Every American embassy and consulate has been directed to launch campaigns against foreign propaganda to address what it calls the problem of rampant disinformation Embassy staff have been instructed to push back counter hostile messaging and even recruit local influencers if necessary In other words it sounds like an IT cell getting into the big leaguesIt may seem like an overreach to those overtly concerned about minor issues like free speech but I think measures like these are important for politicians who care about their image Memes may appear to be harmless until they start to make people question whether therersquos some truth behind those jokes If someone looks like a moron acts like a moron cackles in front of cameras like a moron and embarrasses himself in front of foreign leaders like a moron anyone observing this may start to wonder if the person might be a moron after all Itrsquos a slippery slope and no serious government can afford to let those kinds of doubts creep into the national discourseTherersquos another reason why I believe the memes should stop wersquore Indians and this is against our culture We are not known for our levity or humour When foreigners think of India they tend to think of our high standards of cleanliness our compulsive honesty or the respect we have for women They donrsquot think of jokes or comedy and we should do everything we can to uphold that image If outsiders start to associate us with jokes lsquoBrand Indiarsquo will take a beating If that happens our politicians may no longer be invited to sightseeing trips abroad and our engineers may not be allowed to run American companies any longer Jokes make us look bad and they must be stoppedMy hope is that this series of takedown notices becomes the start of something bigger In time I hope the government allocates resources towards a department tasked with public relations alone I am aware that a majority of Indiarsquos journalists have already been recruited for this purpose but therersquos more that can and should be done In time it may even be possible for every tweet or video to be vetted before being posted online Think of it as a version of the CBFC but for the Internet If the government can pull something like that off it will manage to get our country to speak with one voice mdash the official approved oneThere are some dangers associated with this of course because therersquos a fine line between monitoring and control What if that power is misused some may ask but it doesnrsquot worry me If the past decade and a half has taught me anything it is that India has nothing to fear on this front We will never have a government that stifles free speech undermines the judiciary erodes the power of journalism or runs away from accountability Only cowards and dictators work that wayWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He can be contacted at wwwlindsaypereiracomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper