Ten years on from one of France's darkest days, social media remains an indelible part of the Paris attack narrative.
On November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks left 130 people dead and hundreds more injured at several locations across the city. As emergency responders scrambled to respond to the unfolding crisis, social media was already playing a pivotal role in shaping the public's understanding of what was happening.
At the time, hashtags such as #Paris under attack began trending on Twitter, allowing users to quickly piece together the initial timeline of the attacks. Meanwhile, desperate individuals turned to social media for shelter locations and information on how to stay safe, with many turning to Facebook and Instagram for guidance.
But beyond simply providing basic information, social media also played a crucial role in conveying the scale of the tragedy. Hashtags such as #Paris under attack quickly went viral, allowing people around the world to begin sharing their reactions and paying tribute to those who had been killed.
In the aftermath of the attacks, social media platforms were criticized for allowing extremist groups to spread propaganda and recruit new members. However, in this special edition of Truth or Fake, our guest Vedika Bahl argues that social media also played a vital role in shaping how we understand the 2015 Paris attacks.
Bahl explains how social media enabled people to come together in solidarity with victims and their families, sharing messages of support and condolence. Meanwhile, social media platforms were quick to respond, suspending extremist accounts and removing hate speech from their sites.
Ten years on from that fateful night, it's clear that social media will continue to play a major role in shaping our understanding of such events. But how can we strike the right balance between harnessing its power to build community and safety online, while also keeping users safe from extremist groups and hate speech? That's a question that Vedika Bahl explores in this special edition of Truth or Fake.
On November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks left 130 people dead and hundreds more injured at several locations across the city. As emergency responders scrambled to respond to the unfolding crisis, social media was already playing a pivotal role in shaping the public's understanding of what was happening.
At the time, hashtags such as #Paris under attack began trending on Twitter, allowing users to quickly piece together the initial timeline of the attacks. Meanwhile, desperate individuals turned to social media for shelter locations and information on how to stay safe, with many turning to Facebook and Instagram for guidance.
But beyond simply providing basic information, social media also played a crucial role in conveying the scale of the tragedy. Hashtags such as #Paris under attack quickly went viral, allowing people around the world to begin sharing their reactions and paying tribute to those who had been killed.
In the aftermath of the attacks, social media platforms were criticized for allowing extremist groups to spread propaganda and recruit new members. However, in this special edition of Truth or Fake, our guest Vedika Bahl argues that social media also played a vital role in shaping how we understand the 2015 Paris attacks.
Bahl explains how social media enabled people to come together in solidarity with victims and their families, sharing messages of support and condolence. Meanwhile, social media platforms were quick to respond, suspending extremist accounts and removing hate speech from their sites.
Ten years on from that fateful night, it's clear that social media will continue to play a major role in shaping our understanding of such events. But how can we strike the right balance between harnessing its power to build community and safety online, while also keeping users safe from extremist groups and hate speech? That's a question that Vedika Bahl explores in this special edition of Truth or Fake.
I mean, on one hand, it's crazy how Twitter and Facebook helped spread the word about what was happening during the Paris attack, keeping people informed and safe. It's like they say, "information is power" 
.
. It's like, how do you stop the good from getting lost in the noise? 
. We gotta be mindful of what we're consuming and sharing, and not just mindlessly swipe through our feeds without thinking about it 
.
. That's like, totally what social media is meant to do! 
.
but seriously tho, social media is like a double edge sword, one day its bringing ppl together & sharing messages of love & support, next day its got hate speech & propaganda spreadin like wildfire 
. gotta keep innovatin & findin new ways 2 moderate these platforms & ensure we dont sacrifice safety 4 the sake of free expression 
]
honestly, social media was literally our lifeline during those 3 dark hours on Nov 13th, 2015 
i mean, just think about it, if we didn't have hashtags like #ParisUnderAttack trending on Twitter, would we even know what was happening? 
and yeah, the scale of the tragedy was conveyed so effectively through social media, but at the same time, i get why people were worried about extremist groups spreading propaganda online... 
. And yeah, the platforms did step up to remove hate speech and extremist content pretty quickly.
. We need to keep having these conversations about balance and responsibility, especially when it comes to platforms that are supposed to facilitate community but also have a huge reach.
. But at the same time, those same platforms were also used by extremist groups to recruit & spread hate 
And don't even get me started on how quickly those extremist groups were able to spread their influence online once social media platforms took down their accounts... it's like a game of whack-a-mole 
. We need to be more critical about how we use these platforms, and think about the potential consequences of our actions before they go viral 
... but at same time, we need to be careful how we use it so extremist groups dont spread hate speech & propaganda online 
... its like finding balance between light and dark side of internet 
... can't let social media control our narrative, but also can't ignore its power to bring people together 
i remember seeing all those #ParisUnderAttack tweets & watching them go viral it was so emotional 
& i think its great that facebook & instagram were there 2 provide shelter locs & safety tips 
anyways im curious 2 hear vedika's thoughts on how we can balance building community online w/ keeping ppl safe from hate speech & extremist groups 
.
How do we expect to move forward when we can't even agree on what's safe online? 
. And don't even get me started on how Facebook and Instagram were used to spread extremist propaganda 
. We need to take a closer look at how our social media habits shape our online discourse, especially when it comes to serious events like this. Maybe we shouldn't be praising platforms for "responding" quickly – maybe they should've taken more proactive steps to prevent hate speech and extremism from spreading in the first place 
, sharing reactions and tributes. But at the same time, we gotta acknowledge the dark side of social media too 
. Like, extremist groups were already exploiting platforms back then 
. So yeah, finding that balance between community-building & safety online is key 
?