Vodafone Essar’s decision to shoot off a legal notice to a customer for purportedly defamatory comments on his Facebook page goes beyond the legal nitty-grities of publishing comments in cyberspace – it is a frontal attack on free speech, and shows utter contempt for consumer dissent.
At the dawn of the social-networking phase of the Internet age, corporates had wallowed over what all wonderful things social media could do for them. They had gone to town about empowerment of citizens, and secretly exulted at the rich financial dividends that social media could reap for them. Vodafone’s legal notice to one Dhaval Valia over his status message clearly indicates that the corporate world was not prepared to see the flip side of social media. Worse, it’s finding it a bitter pill to swallow.
Valia’s grouse had been over the availability of third-generation mobile services in the northern Mumbai suburb where he lives. His specific case is only incidental to this write-up.
Vodafone took umbrage at the fact that mobile numbers of executives had been posted on his Facebook page. The company raised the privacy bogey. But given that Vodafone accessed Valia’s page (and even took a screenshot) shows with the scant regard with which it itself views the issue of privacy of others.
The company’s contention that Valia had caused “mental trauma” to a female customer care executive he had spoken with seems laughable. In a country where dealing with callous and inefficient customer care executives makes people tear their hair in frustration, this would have seemed more of an irate customer giving vent to his pent up frustration. The trauma bit is too much to take.
The notice also insisted that Valia was trying to damage the goodwill of Vodafone. The company should probably Google up to see the goodwill that it currently enjoys. A search for “vodafone service bad” throws up close to 6 million results. Evidently, Vodafone, with this episode, has only shown that it does not know how to grapple with the issue of consumer anger that takes place in full public glare. There are a number of consumer websites on the Internet where people post their grievances. Surely, Vodafone does not believe that the company can police everyone and everything on the Internet?
It’s unfortunate and unbelievable that an image-conscious telecom giant like Vodafone still doesn’t get it. According to the National Consumer Helpline, one out of every five consumer complaints in April this year pertained to the telecom sector. Few can prop up arguments against the case that quality of customer service hasn’t kept pace the growth of the industry itself. Little wonder that most companies had been unwilling to give in to mobile number portability they could no longer stave it off.
The irony of ironies is that Vodafone is the co-title owner of the Vodafone Crossword Book Award. That a company that directly and proudly associates itself with free speech, should armtwist an individual over his right to speak his mind out is not tragic, it’s farcical.
