Social media is alight with fury over the tragedy and brutal disregard for humanity the people of Sudan are facing every day. Peaceful protests have snowballed into a devastating war on humanity led by the government after president al-bashmir’s leadership led the country into a state of strict military-controlled poverty and despair.
Social media has been banned and electricity cuts have ensured the people feel isolated and hopeless in their bid for democratic freedom and basic human rights. Instead, despair and cruelty has only escalated with murder and rape becoming commonplace and bodies being flung into the river.
The news of this tragedy and complete crisis for humanity was first reported in trickles on social media. Days passed users on Twitter and Instagram began to share more information about what is happening, with the mainstream media remaining suspiciously quiet.
Over a week after I first saw posts appearing about the events unfolding in Sudan, media outlets have begun to thinly cover the escalation of protest to stone-cold murder and rape of civilians.
The Sudanese are facing brutality, censorship and violence against men, women and children at the hands of the government, and yet humanity is failing them further afield. The media remains quiet, the tweets grow angrier, more frustrated. Millennials and Gen-Z express their anguish at the situation and the lack of coverage in Western media.
This unfathomable abstinence of the media has led to a term coined ‘selective empathy’ being widely spread cross social media. Selective empathy describes the West picking and choosing social and political issues to lend emotional and financial support and intervention to. There is a proliferating fury towards the outrage and platitude of sympathies and solutions offered to France when Notre Dame set alight, the threat to a symbol of European, Catholic history apparently a heavier heart tug than that of the present the threat to life in Sudan. That’s not to say the event was without tragedy, but since when does the wooden frames of a cathedral rank above the tender flesh and bones of a life?
Each year millions tune into Comic Relief to offer support to famine and poverty in Third World Countries such as Sudan, so why the silence now? Does this compassion and support expire when it is isn’t on a Western schedule? Is their tragedy inconveniencing? Is it only worthy of time and attention when it can play out in front of our eyes, ready to pause, play and rewind?
The glimmer of hope buried in a situation rife with brutality and despair is the activism and passion of young people across social media and the revitalization of social media as an instrument of change and free speech, a change from endless sponsored posts about weight loss teas and gummy hair vitamins. Gen-Z and Millennials are taking back the power from the mainstream media outlets, it is no longer only up to them to spread awareness and inform us of news. A generation of activists and socially engaged individuals are maturing in front of our eyes.
Support for Sudan may be irresponsibly absent in the mainstream media, but their struggle is not ignored. Though we can’t dictate the selective empathies of our governments and media, we have access to a platform for greater influence. Do not underestimate the power of opinion and compassion online, regardless of your following.
Every tweet, like, and share spreads awareness. The more young people engage and connect with news, the more the politicians and media outlets have to take notice of the things we care about, instead of disregarding our opinions under the guise of a snowflake generation whose international empathies only stretch as far as the lonely un-coupled singleton leaving Love Island that week.
Share your thoughts and frustrations, sign petitions and provide support in any way you can to the people of Sudan.