Having endured a vicious trial by social media following allegations by a cricketer and a subsequent two-year ban from overlaying the game that adversely impacted the psychological and emotional well-being of his total household, celebrated sports activities journalist and acclaimed creator and historian, Boria Majumdar has lastly come out along with his aspect of the story with a no holds-barred account of the complete controversy by means of his new guide Banned: A social media trial.
The guide, which was formally launched right here on Tuesday, additionally highlights the assist the creator acquired from India’s first particular person Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and famend badminton coach and 2001 All England champion Pullela Gopichand throughout the making an attempt time.
Majumdar turned the goal of a social media barrage two years in the past after the mentioned cricketer claimed that he was intimidated by Majumdar and put out a few of their conversations “out of context” and the repercussions of these personalised assaults had been felt by his fast household – together with his mom, spouse, sister and even his 8-year-old daughter and lifeless father.
The 48-year-old had then opted to keep up silence in public about the complete episode that nearly price him his profession and the survival of his then simply launched start-up — Revsportz. He lastly determined to pen down his perspective on the entire controversy and in addition documented the challenges an expert face when he’s rendered powerless towards the power of social media trolls after having served the ban and having complied with each sanction imposed on him.
Speaking on the event, Boria Majumdar mentioned, “A social media trial can break you. There were thousands of tweets of abuse for days on end, all premised on a set of untruths pushed by someone hugely powerful because he had played for the country and the national team. Against the entitled, I never stood a chance. The online trial forced me and the family to draw on every last bit of inner strength, and yet left permanent scars.”
“Having served the ban, I wanted closure in the form of this book. But no one knows better that there will never be a full stop. I will not get back the two years of opportunities that I lost, or the days and evenings when I was almost a stranger to my daughter,” he added.
Speaking concerning the perils of social media trials, Gopichand added, “With the continuous social media abuse, we tend to lose hope. Losing hope and motivation is the worst thing that can happen to us. When this controversy happened my only advice to Boria was to focus on what he does best – his journalism – and forget everything else.”
Bindra additionally underlined how athletes have vital affect on social media and may drive the narrative and felt that sportspersons ought to be extra cautious and take accountability once they put out issues on social media. “I think as athletes and as a community, we stand for certain values and should be very careful with what we say or put out for we have a certain currency. What we put out on social media I think is something that we must be very wary of and do it with a degree of responsibility,” he commented.
The guide not solely particulars the challenges Majumdar and his household endured following the incident but in addition throws gentle on the previous interactions between him and the cricketer, the context behind his messages that had been used towards him and the way placing them “out of context” led to projecting him in damaging gentle.
Speaking concerning the troublesome occasions they endured because of focused social media abuse by trolls who didn’t even spare her and their eight-year-old daughter, Majumdar’s spouse, Dr Sharmistha Gooptu mentioned, “I can only be thankful that my daughter was then 8 and not 14 or 15 and not on social media to witness her father’s humiliation. The trolls did not spare her, or me.”
