ABSTRACT
In recent times, a massive groundswell of “moral panic,” triggered by the in-group members of Kerala against the immigrants (out-group members), has been widely circulating on social media in the form of invective messages and memes. Several cases of physical assault have also been reported across the state. While mass media was needed to galvanise moral panics, citizens' use of social media tools to shame the other as intimidating groups has acquired unprecedented growth. Much of the tirade against the migrant labour population is possibly based on rumours. The networked architecture of instant messaging applications and social media affords the circulation of moral panic, suggesting threats to the native community by the immigrants. The orgy of the spread of such moral panics caused by the immense potential of “virality” multiplies manifold in numbers and affective experiences through shares, likes, and new user-generated content. The formed and fuelled moral panics are vicious enough to obscure distinctions between rumours and truth.
Drawing on the concepts of Stanely Cohen (1972) and Robert Payne (2013), this chapter seeks to integrate the idea of moral panic and virality to explore how moral panic has stoked fears about the migrant labourers of Kerala through social media tools. By analysing social media contents on migrant othering, this paper studies the labelling of migrant labourers as folk devils through social media discourses.
