HUMANS are the most complex living beings on earth, having conflicting ideologies and practices. What they publicly criticise is often practised in their personal lives. Don Juan, in this regard, correctly highlighted that people are more offended by being caught than by the wrongdoing itself. Hidden desires, hypocrisy, selective morality and double standards are prominent features of our social fabric, and literary works truly expose them.

Society is too harsh towards the vulner-able, as the rule of law is more strictly implemented in cases involving them, exposing the so-called moral values of our culture. The Scarlet Letter, an 1850 novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, serves as a strong example of this inherited human hypocrisy. Similarly, our society teaches conformity and punishes non-conformity, which is a bleak reality that was captured beautifully in The Stranger, a 1942 classic by Albert Camus.

Even in the modern era, alleged per-petrators are tried in public gatherings or on social media platforms much before courts get a chance to hear a case. Many social media influencers, commentators and even journalists have attempted to exploit matters aggressively for viewership under the guise of supporting a perceived victim. This growing culture of ‘social media trials’ is deeply concerning as it damages reputations, invades privacy and intensifies emotional suffering. All the relevant regulatory bodies and stakeholders should ensure the protection of individual’s privacy and dignity in the digital age.

Arslan Zafar
Jhang

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026