Often I am hesitant to open my e-mail for fear of finding a flood of junk messages from people and firms I have never heard of and in whose products I have no interest whatsoever. What I normally do is send the junk mail directly to the trash. Sometimes when I am very annoyed, I take the trouble of asking the senders to stop sending me such useless messages and to strike my name and address from their mailing lists. They seldom pay any attention and the messages keep coming.
The problem with this disturbing phenomenon is that it is no longer confined to e-mail. My mobile is now being flooded with SMS messages from individuals and organizations I don’t even want to know. Some of the messages are preaching and admonitions, full of dos and don’ts. In some cases they include criticisms of certain individuals and ask the receiver to join a campaign whose main goal is to stir the public up against certain individuals. The dangerous thing about these messages is that their senders ask you to join them in complaining to the authorities, demanding an investigation into certain matters. Sometimes they ask you to join them in stopping a social function or party from being held or petition the authorities to approve a certain project.
The messages using this kind of targeted mailing may not necessarily reflect a general trend or express a desire shared by every one. However, the individuals sending these messages seek to fulfill a personal desire and also to give the impression that a majority shares their desire. The best example here is the flood of SMS messages that accompanied the recent debate about women driving. The messages were mostly a kind of incitement that reflects a particular ideology in clear violation of people’s privacy and their right to protect themselves from such harassment.
These practices using the e-mail and mobiles are a continuation of the harassment people are being subjected to in their places of work and their homes. It is now common to find pamphlets, letters and even cassettes under your door. The practice is especially prevalent during the summer holidays.
Any attempts seeking to promote products, services and ideas through unsolicited means should be viewed as invasive and dubious. We need to enact some spam mail legislation that protects people’s privacy and strictly prohibits such practices, regardless of the legitimacy of the activity practiced by those who send such messages.
