Spectacle, privacy and sharing in the digital age

The Hindu

4 days ago

On a balmy evening in Boston, a Coldplay concert became the stage for an incident that reverberated far beyond the music. During a light-hearted 'kiss-cam' segment, the camera focused on two individuals — the CEO of Astronomer, and the firm's HR director. The startled reactions of the man and woman, captured by an audience member's smartphone, ignited a digital firestorm. Within hours, the video went viral, inciting speculation about an alleged affair. Both individuals were married, and the online frenzy culminated in the CEO's resignation. Fake apologies and doctored posts further muddied the waters, transforming a fleeting moment into a global morality narrative.
The deeper issues
At first glance, the Coldplay episode may seem like mere tabloid material. Yet it exposes deeper anxieties about privacy, spectacle and morality in our hyper-connected society. It prompts us to question not only media ethics and platform accountability but also the nature of spectatorship itself. When personal discomfort becomes meme material and moral commentary, we must inquire. What is the cost of our participation? Media theorist Mark Andrejevic describes this as 'lateral surveillance', where individuals monitor and expose one another through digital instruments.
In his seminal work, iSpy: Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era, he identifies this as a characteristic of participatory culture, distinct from institutional surveillance. The Coldplay video was likely shared in jest or curiosity, but its viral spread, propelled by platforms such as Instagram and X, led to reputational damage.
Shoshana Zuboff's concept of surveillance capitalism elucidates this phenomenon — platforms are designed to amplify emotionally provocative and ambiguous content. The video's success lay not in truth but in its ability to provoke speculation. Its virality was orchestrated by algorithms that favour engagement over ethics.
India has seen similar episodes. In 2023, a video of a couple in the Delhi Metro went viral, leading to harsh trolling and moral policing, targeting the woman. Such incidents, often involving women, marginalised groups, or the economically disadvantaged, reveal a pattern: digital virality thrives on indignation and voyeurism, with disproportionate harm to the vulnerable. These instances highlight a key issue: visibility does not equate to consent. Philosopher Helen Nissenbaum's theory of 'contextual integrity' helps explain this breach: privacy is not secrecy, but control over how personal information circulates within specific contexts.
A concertgoer does not anticipate a transient expression to become global content. While recording may appear innocuous, mass dissemination, amplified by algorithms, disrupts those contextual boundaries. The public reaction to the Coldplay video ranged from humour to moral condemnation, crafting an unverified narrative of infidelity. Daniel Trottier describes this as 'digital vigilantism' — a sort of informal justice where online users act as moral enforcers. Unlike formal systems, it relies on speculation, with rapid and often irreversible consequences.
The issue of verification
The function of legacy media in such incidents is increasingly troubling. News organisations, often influenced by social media trends, tend to amplify viral content without adequate verification. In the Coldplay case, reports of the CEO's resignation largely reflected online narratives, with minimal independent investigation. This reversal, where publication precedes verification, challenges the ethical foundation of journalism. Should private individuals be subjected to public scrutiny based simply on unverified social media content? What evidential standards should apply?
Platform design exacerbates these issues. Algorithms on TikTok, Instagram, and X prioritise emotionally charged content, emphasising engagement over accuracy. As media scholar Nancy Baym observes, platforms shape not just what we consume but how we interact, encouraging performance over reflection.
In India, where digital literacy is inconsistent, and caste, gender, and religious hierarchies persist, the risks are amplified. Viral videos of Dalit or tribal creators, for instance, often provoke casteist backlash, turning digital visibility into vulnerability. The Coldplay episode also reveals how easily reputational harm can outpace facts. Legal protections such as privacy and defamation laws exist, but their ability to address algorithmically driven harm remains limited, particularly across borders.
Reflect on digital behaviour
How do we traverse this complex terrain? First, public awareness around the ethics of digital sharing must grow. What one finds 'share-worthy' may profoundly harm another. Educational initiatives, especially in schools and communities, can help foster empathy and self-restraint. Second, platforms must take greater responsibility for promoting morally ambiguous content. There is an urgent need for technologies that flag, contextualise, or slow the spread of sensitive videos. Third, journalism must reaffirm its gatekeeping role, prioritising verification and proportionality over viral allure. Most importantly, we as users must reflect on our own digital behaviour. The line between witnessing and exposing is razor-thin, and our choices to record, post, or comment carry consequences beyond the moment.
The Coldplay kiss-cam incident is not an outlier but part of a broader cultural shift, where spectacle frequently overrides sensitivity. As India and the world contend with the complexities of the digital public sphere, we must ask this: do we want a society that treats every moment as content, or one that prioritises empathy and responsibility? Our digital behaviour reflects our moral compass. In an age where any face in a crowd can become viral, the ethics of sharing call for urgent reflection. Only through mindful engagement can we build a digital culture that respects dignity.
Madhavi Ravikumar is with the Department of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad