It’s no secret that New York City subways have been making headlines in recent months, and it’s not just because of pop-up fares. The subways have been the scene of several crimes of passengers spat on, beaten, driven on the tracks. Last month, a gunman dressed in a fuel mask threw smoke grenades into the Brooklyn subway before opening fire. This month, there have been two consecutive shootings in Buffalo, New York. Gun crisis. What is needed are sanitary facilities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called for an increased police presence across the city. It puts too much pressure on officials to solve a national problem. Others who believe that armed civilians will solve the epidemic are obviously deceived; The subway gunman used smoke grenades. How intelligent would a civilian be who can see his own hand when firing a gun to protect himself?The “heroic” civilian could also put on two eye patches and become defensive like Davy Crockett, because with firearms he may have resulted, and probably would have, in additional injuries.
Instead of focusing verbal exchange on the act of shooting, we as a society want to redirect verbal exchange to how we can avoid those tragedies before they happen. The answer lies in intellectual aptitude and social media provides a better perspective. in the minds of those at risk.
Earlier this year, Martial Simon, 61, was accused of pushing Michelle Go, 40, to death on a New York City subway, but after an intellectual aptitude assessment, it was found that he was not worthy of trial. These violent crimes show that intellectual illness is occasionally a cause, and while it does not excuse the pain patients and their families have to endure, it can serve as a catalyst for an expansion of systems to help others with intellectual illnesses. In the case of the subway shooter, his alleged YouTube channel gave the impression of showing videos of the man’s hateful rhetoric against blacks, Jews and Latinos and even talked about committing acts of violence. Could crime have been prevented with the intervention of social media?
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have hired fact-checkers to remove posts containing fake news, but have failed to identify users with posts and videos showing symptoms of untreated intellectual ailments that pose a danger to both others and themselves.
Multi-billion dollar social media platforms have the ability to track Americans who post threats. The answer is not just to censor Americans, as ideals will continue to exist, but to use the generation to locate Americans before a crime is committed. With the existing state of generation, we have the opportunity to use a set of rules to our advantage. George Sehremelis, a recent graduate of the University of Southern California, created a social data platform, Overlooked, employing a set of rules that combat fake news. In creating a set of rules, Sehremelis said it’s possible that only the bias of a news article is 95 percent. Imagine the influence and replacement of a set of rules that combats violent discourse.
For the rule set to be effective, social media platforms would want a direct link to municipal, state, and national research organizations to send an IP address, a timestamp, and data about those whose posts show symptoms of potential threats. From there, it would be up to government agencies to work with intellectual fitness providers to expand a plan. The first step starts with the social media giants taking over the Wild West platforms they created and let them go.
Some might think that tracking others is a violation of one’s rights. My query is: What if a school knew about a student’s threats and ignored them?Why is there a difference of belief when there are threats on social media platforms that have the wealth and ability to bring about genuine change?Until a direct law is passed to criminalize those who post violent messages on the Internet, the gun crisis will continue.
New York City is an example of what will only get worse across the country as other homeless and/or intellectually impaired people are ignored and relegated to the shadows. While politicians and other prosperous people, social media platforms can take Over Ubers and Lyfts in comfort, they leave the masses vulnerable to the effects of their inability to deal with the epidemic of intellectual fitness.
Costa B. Pappas is a New York-based publisher specializing in art and culture. His paintings have appeared in The Observer, Teen Vogue, Fiction Writers Review, Business Insider and Newsweek. He is a graduate of American University and a member of the National Circle of Book Critics. You’ll find him writing in Manhattan hotel lobbies over coffee ice cream or on Twitter @CostaBPappas.
The perspectives expressed in this article are those of the author.