The joke’s on us

A joke is just a joke, right? Not so in India, where even a casual wisecrack is taken far more seriously than lethal weapons such as misinformation and hate speech. Podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia has learnt it the tough way — he has been told by the Supreme Court to mind his errant tongue after all the self-styled moral inspectors came down on him like a ton of bricks for his controversial remarks. The court has allowed him to resume his online show, provided he maintains “morality and decency” and makes it suitable for viewers of all ages. Despite getting interim protection from arrest, he won’t be having the last laugh, for sure. That’s a privilege enjoyed by those who spew hatred and spread fake news — and get away with it.

The country’s collective inability to take a joke — good, bad or ugly — is set to hit a new low as the SC has directed the Centre to formulate a mechanism to regulate social media content. Punishment for mocking the high and mighty would, of course, be an integral part of such a regulatory framework, which might come dangerously close to censorship. The inescapable fact is that we are not living in the US, where Saturday Night Live can afford to lampoon the US President and his deputy. Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair was bang on target when he stated that had this happened in India, the “police from Mumbai, Assam, Delhi, UP, MP, etc would have filed an FIR against them by now”. The formula here is simple: if you want to make comedians fall in line, drag them to court and bay for their blood.

It’s a not-so-funny case of misplaced priorities. Not many are bothered or embarrassed by the World Economic Forum’s finding that India is a global leader in misinformation and disinformation. We are lapping up fake news as if it were prime-time entertainment, but are unwilling to laugh at ourselves. No wonder we are becoming too serious for our own good.