The Kasab hoax

Hocus pocus,tontus talontus,vade celeriter jubeo,the phrase whence it all began,is Latin-sounding gibberish. So in its very origins,the hoax was,by definition and default,false. But it has an etymology. Hoax traces itself back to the verb hocus,meaning to trick,cheat,deceive,impose upon,even befuddle with drugged liquor. Now,its not a hoax if it lacks the intent to deceive. In other words,a deliberate falsification is essential. A rumour,or legend,passed on in good faith is not a hoax. So whoever changed falsified the date of birth of Ajmal Kasab on Wikipedia,was perpetrating a hoax. The significance,or lack thereof,of real or false birthdays of Kasab is another matter,but this hoax was in poor taste malicious,and after Wednesdays tragedy,even menacing.

Information technology and the Internet caused a paradigmatic shift in the commonest form and forum of hoaxes. Therefore,Kasab could languish in police custody and be oblivious to the Internet war,and the fooling of reputed media outfits,sparked off by somebody changing his supposed DoB to July 13. Who did it is a question we would,certainly now,like to know,if its at all possible to know. But of greater import was the possibility of an untoward fallout of the mischief. That,luckily,was denied the mischief-makers.

But the matter resurrects another problem we may be still less comfortable confronting. Much as we celebrate,and sincerely,the advent of crowd-sourcing of content or citizen journalism,this hoax has been an instance of how dangerous or improper some results of that necessary democratisation can sometimes be. Wikipedia itself had tidied up and tightened its mass-editing mess. But privileges once given are hard to withdraw,or limit. Nor is it desirable. The challenge is to keep it that way,and yet avoid July 13s.