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Tag: online life

  • The Tremendous Harms of Pornography to Adults and Youth

    The Tremendous Harms of Pornography to Adults and Youth

    In an otherwise normal, decent world, pornography is not a topic that we would wish to publicly discuss. Talking about issues with negative connotations often brings out the very destructive impact on the public that we intended to avoid.  But once a destructive issue is already in the public sphere and impacting society, it is important to discuss it. The case of pornography in the West and most countries in the world is exactly that—it’s way past the threshold. In fact, it’s wreaking havoc in society. Pornography has manifested in its most extreme state of vulgarity in our current time, using the omnipresent technology of the internet and mobile devices.

    Pornography has always been a part of human culture, going at least as far back as the fertility cults, with their pornographic drawings, that existed throughout the world. Some researchers suggest that fertility symbols were used as early as prehistoric times. The digital age has given pornography new dimensions and raised concerns about its negative impact on individuals and society as a whole. It’s just like “sugar” in the modern diet causing a public health disaster, it’s omnipresent—you don’t need to seek sugary products explicitly, but added sugar comes to you in every food you buy, be it kids’ milk pouches, juice, bread, ketchup… you name it. Similarly, pornography or the likes of it doesn’t need to be sought explicitly but comes to you as an ingredient in your everyday life—you go to a TV channel, a web page, YouTube, or internet gaming sites—you constantly get baited or even sampled (sampling is a direct marketing technique that offers the consumer a small sample for free so that they will be motivated to purchase the full product after that). Baiting is most often done with soft porn, a gateway to more hardcore pornography. According to definitions.net, softcore pornography is…

    “…commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Softcore pornography includes stripteases, lingerie modeling, simulated sex and emphasis on the sensual appreciation of the human form. It typically contains nude or semi-nude actors involved in love scenes and is intended to be sexually arousing and aesthetically beautiful. The distinction between softcore pornography and erotic photography is largely a matter of taste.”

    Islamic Clarity About Pornography

    For Muslims, there is no distinction between soft- and hardcore porn. Islam is clear on the issue of producing or consuming sexually explicit material of any kind. It hasn’t just declared it unacceptable but creates barriers surrounding it so that society can prevent individuals coming close to it. Islam is the religion of haya, modesty. In that way, Islam provides, so to speak, a natural immunity to pornography. So, we shouldn’t be worried, right? Far from it. This danger is like an infectious virus—indiscriminately attacking Muslims and non-Muslims alike. We’ll go over why the Muslim “immune system” to pornography isn’t working. Let’s understand first the “immune system,” if you will, that’s inbuilt in Islam.

    • Islam has put modesty of men and women as a criterion of faith. It’s not just about wearing modest outfits and restricting the mixing of men and women; it is also a lowering of the gaze by both men and women.
    • Islam accepts the reality of human biology that drives us sexually. Thus, Islam puts marriage as a top priority to channel sexual impulses in a healthy and productive way. The Qur’an is very clear on every able man and woman getting married unless there’s a condition of prohibitive disability or abject economic hardship where they are advised by God to “fast” to counter the effect of human biology and hormones.
    • The Qur’an then takes it to the next level: advising men and women to not even come close to sexual involvement outside of marriage—knowing that humans are created weak and that one must stay away from the slippery slope of immoral activities.
    • At a societal level, the Islamic economy has made it very explicit that anything harmful to society shouldn’t be a money-making industry. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, etc., are prohibited in the Islamic system. That’s a macro-level immunity that Islam provides.

    One should then ask why all the above aspects of such a broad-based defense mechanism is not working for Muslims. The answer is simple — we’re living in a society that promotes a lifestyle that compromises the “immunity” that we are supposed to have. Do not think that it’s only in America or in the West. It’s also ubiquitous in many Muslim countries as most of the world is now following the West as a cultural role model without giving any critical thought to religion or societal stability and well-being.

    Pornography is a legal business in most countries. Some may deny that Muslim countries have such an industry. I would argue, however, that the entertainment industry is not far removed from it, and most Muslim countries allow the almost unrestricted flow of Hollywood or Bollywood movies. As mentioned above, soft porn, which is prevalent in movies, is just one step from more hardcore pornographic material.

    To make the effect worse, marriage between a man and a woman is being hollowed out, while the uncensored mixing of men and women is encouraged or, many times, structurally necessary in the workplace.

    Harming of Faith and Healthy Relationships

    The most devastating harm pornography or the entertainment industry does is that they eat away the foundation of the faith (iman). Imam Ghazzali wrote in his book Minhajul Abedin that if our nafs (self, soul) is a wild beast that drags us to follow our desires, then the gates through which it’s fed are through our senses. The most important sense is our eyes. The more the beast is fed, the wilder it becomes. And it drags you further away from the remembrance of Allah. It’s like a rain shower on a barren land with a downward slope—you put soil on it to farm crops, but the rain washes away the topsoil. Likewise, every exposure to vulgarity washes away your deposit of faith. The exposure to pornography, or similar immodest content, takes away the taste of sweetness from our Ibadah (the regular worshiping activity like salah, fasting, charity, etc.).

    Another significant concern about pornography is its impact on personal relationships. A study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that high pornography consumption is associated with decreased satisfaction in intimate life in marriage. The unrealistic and often degrading depictions of intimate encounters can create toxic expectations, leading to dissatisfaction and conflict in real-world relationships. Pornography has been cited as a contributing factor in numerous divorces and breakups, further emphasizing the corrosive effects it can have on personal connections.

    The addictive nature of pornography is also a significant concern, with 8-9 percent of U.S. adults reportedly struggling with compulsive sexual behavior, often linked to excessive pornography use. Easy access to explicit content online can foster addiction, negatively impacting individuals and families. Alarmingly, 42 percent of unwanted online pornography exposure cases in 2019 involved minors, which can distort children’s understanding of healthy relationships and sexuality. The pornography industry also has ties to sex trafficking, with some individuals being exploited or even coerced to participate. Additionally, excessive pornography consumption is linked to negative mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and risky sexual behaviors, particularly among adolescents.

    While society is being corrupted by decadent and often deviant behaviors, the proliferation of pornography in the United States has reached unprecedented levels, due to the internet and technological advancements. The pornography industry in the United States is a multi-billion-dollar behemoth, overshadowing the revenues of even some mainstream entertainment sectors. According to a 2020 report of one of the world’s largest adult content websites, they received a staggering 42 billion visits throughout the year, averaging over 115 million visits per day. This not only underscores the ubiquity of pornography but also highlights its immense influence on the population of the world.

    In a forthcoming article, I will discuss how to protect ourselves and our children from the tremendous harms of pornography.

  • Using Social Media for Our Benefit While Avoiding Its Harms

    Using Social Media for Our Benefit While Avoiding Its Harms

    The times we live in make it imperative to understand the underlying mechanisms of social media, what benefits and harms it poses, and how to use it wisely and in accordance with Islamic principles. These social platforms have come as a blessing to us as we can instantly reach out to our friends and families across the world. We use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc., to talk to them and share information with them, most surprisingly, without any cost. Nonetheless, as the saying goes “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” and we do pay a “price” for it, an invisible but hefty price.

    To understand that fully, we have to understand the business model of social media. It is built on the economic model called “attention economy” and we pay the price through our “attention.” The other leg of this economic model is the network effect, i.e., we empower it by being connected to it. “Attention” and “connectedness” are the foods for this beast. The more they can capture our attention, the better they can sell us to their customers, the advertisers.

    It’s very difficult to not fall into the trap of the carefully designed “algorithms” that grab our attention, but we can try a few strategies and techniques that can help us to dodge the harmful snare. First, to understand if you’re a victim of this business model, see how many of these symptoms apply to you:

    • The app’s notifications are turned on and you have the urge to check instantly at the buzz of a notification
    • The first thing that comes to your mind in the morning is the number of reactions to your post.
    • You feel the urge to “tell” everyone what you had for breakfast, lunch, or dinner — day after day.
    • You can’t wait to return home from your vacation to post all the “cool” pictures of amazing food, fun activities, and places you visited during your trip.
    • Your app’s video feed has auto play enabled, thus hooking you for hours.
    • You can’t resist a day without publishing a post even if it’s something relatively meaningless, or a personal status like “feeling lonely” that should be expressed to a family member, good friend, or counselor, not the public.
    Enormous Benefit

    If used appropriately, however, social media also brings enormous benefit. Never in human history have we been so connected in such a convenient manner. Each and every one of us is like a live broadcaster. We can reach out to our families and friends across the world. We can share ideas and information with others. We have access to a wealth of knowledge and varying content, an availability that was unthinkable in past human history. You can get all the top-ranked universities’ lectures or join their live classes from across the world. One would have to be a fool to deny the benefits of it. But what we don’t realize is that the social media companies intend to predispose us to virtual relationships rather than face-to-face relationships. These companies are making billions of dollars as they constantly preach to use their tool and replace our real life with their virtual reality (e.g., the metaverse). Make no mistake, it comes with enormous risks that can destroy the fabric of society and every individual from the inside.

    Following are some of the risks:
    • Access to so much content in a short time narrows attention span. It’s hard for an individual to stay focused on a particular topic for more than a few minutes. One is constantly allured to the “next cool” thing on the side — be it a recommendation or an advertisement. To feed “the beast,” it will ensure that you are hooked into their platform with “must see” baits such as, posts, pictures, memes, and videos.
    • The deliberate design of social media feeds this diminishing attention span and ability to concentrate. Humans are built with peripheral vision. It allows us to see the surroundings even when we’re focusing on a particular thing in front of us. This is a mechanism of self-protection against unexpected harm. Social media technologists know that very well and they frequently pop things up on the screen to allure you to the place that benefits their business. Once your brain gets used to that frequent interruption, then it becomes your patterned behavior. This is devastating for you regarding your knowledge acquisition, ability to focus, or living a life with intentionality.
    • Everyone tends to share their carefully curated “polished” persona with the world. So, you will be seeing the best of everyone: their most attractive selfie, stunning vacation place, the luxurious food, the awards they receive, the highest promotion at their job, the number of likes they get with their posts, and on and on. Imagine you have a few hundred “friends” and you constantly see their “success” stories only. That will prompt you to set unrealistic goals to be best at everything and be happy all the time. This creates psychological issues as you are constantly comparing yourself to this one or that one, or to the sum total of your friends’ “successes.”
    • Social media platforms are designed to flood you with information so you don’t get time to check the validity or authenticity of the information. Moreover, they make it easy, often with one click, to share with any social media platforms and groups. This may sound trivial on the face, but this has an enormous impact on society. As Muslims, we are commanded to act responsibly and to not share anything but verified and authentic information (Quran 49:6 and 24:15).
    • The most deliberate attack is by the advertisements. You may say, “what’s the big deal?” You are used to newspaper, TV, or billboard ads. Yes, those also have psychological and emotional effects, and even subliminal influences; but it’s like comparing raindrops to a cyclone. Most importantly, artificial Intelligence algorithms use individualized data to target and drag you where they can best make a profit (i.e., using your personal data and connections to promote goods and services to you in a personalized way). It hooks you to the screen for a long time by showing you one-after-another “interesting” post that allows them to charge higher prices to their advertisers. Ads are intended to make you think you need their product and therefore throws you into the material rat race.
    • Another subtle but consequential impact of social media on our society is that we become numb. Repeated sensationalized, fast-moving images and news may numb our senses and exhaust our emotions. If we get used to watching on a screen tragedies and incidents of violence or oppression and reacting virtually with a simple click of the mouse, then we might no longer seek to take action in real life in support of social justice, no longer making effort to relieve the suffering of others.
    Using Social Media Responsibly

    So how do we benefit from the power of social media? Until the social media companies change their business model from the attention economy into something less harmful, we can take back some control in our own hands and create a fence around some of the harmful aspects of social media. Here are some suggestions:

    • Define your social media goals. Here are a few examples of beneficial use of social media — to connect with family and friends who live far away, to access educational resources, to engage in commerce, to carry out activism and awareness campaigns. The bottom line is to make sure that you use these platforms to advance the goal you set forth. Frequently check if you’re staying within those boundaries. If you find yourself drifting away from that goal, get back to the “lane” immediately.
    • Time is the most scarce commodity we were sent to this earth with. Use it wisely and with extreme caution. This alone will help shape your success or failure in life. Set aside a certain time in the day to use social media. Another alternative is to select certain days in the week instead of every day. Make your boundaries and stick to the plan.
    • If your kids need to use YouTube/social media for learning, have them use it in an open space at home where other family members can monitor what they are accessing, and remind them of the importance of moderate use.

    With the internet and social media, we can reach countless individuals across the globe. We have access to all knowledge and to an enormous number of opinions on any topic. Two things are good to keep in mind, however. Regarding the business model of social media platforms, as mentioned above, we want to ensure that we don’t become willing victims to their snares of profit-seeking. We do that by responsibly and deliberately using social media in a moderate and highly conscious way.

    And secondly, as Muslims, we also want to make sure we don’t disseminate information that is untrue, biased, or harmful. It is important to check what you find on social media. There is often “the other side to the story” that is being ignored or untold. Seek out alternative views and weigh what each side is saying as you try to discern the truth or reality of the story. One technique that is used in formal research is called “triangulation.” It facilitates the validation of data by using three or more sources. While use of triangulation in regard to social media is certainly more casual than the triangulation that is used in formal research, it highlights the need to avoid hearing or reading some claim made online and “running with it” without checking out its validity or reliability.

    Only as astute and responsible users of social media can we benefit from it while avoiding its harms.