Punishment is meant to stop the evil that man does to man, not to oppress man.
Ancient morality says that human dignity must be preserved even when punishing crime.
Because punishment is for justice, not for pain for spectacle.
George Orwell, “The most effective way to ban an idea is to shame its proponent” tells.
Because shaming does not only silence; it makes the target naked in front of the crowd, it makes them vulnerable.
This is exactly what Recm is.
Recm, which literally means stoning to death in Arabic, is not only a method of execution.
It is a form of collective punishment in the name of morality. Historically rooted in religious-legal systems, it is often legitimized through the crime of adultery. In this punishment, the perpetrator “society”, if the victim is “example.”tir.
Moreover, it does not belong only to one religion or one culture. It is also found in Jewish law. In antiquity too...
When we wander through the hidden depths of history, we see similar punishments repeated in different geographies and periods. Maybe not all of them are stoning. But burying them alive, burning them, having them torn apart by predators, throwing them into boiling cauldrons.
It is the method that changes.
What has not changed is the ruthlessness of the crowd.
The crowd gathers; it punishes the person or persons it believes to be sinful. There is exposure, there is shaming, and above all there is a “making an example” desire.
Because the purpose of recidivism is not only to kill; it is to de-humanize, erase and ignore in front of everyone before killing.
In this punishment, responsibility is primarily distributed to the crowd. The stone is therefore only a tool. It is the main thing, “morality” is an order of fear in its name.
Well times have changed.
Have the penalties changed?
Yes.
But it's not what we thought.
Maybe most of the time today bodies are not touched. But almost every day people's souls are shattered digitally. No one seems to be stoning anyone. But everyone is being stoned. Nobody kills. But everyone is a little bit diminished, a little bit hurt, scared to death by threats.
We haven't given it a name yet.
So we live as if it is normal.
But this is the new face of an old punishment.
There are no stones today.
But the crowd is still there. It's as if time has frozen, as if the souls of those cruel people have time traveled.
And the squares have been replaced by screens.
Words in the place of stones.
Tags.
Disclosures.
Organized silences.
Historically, the death penalty was most often applied to the other: women, those who did not obey, those whose identity or life did not conform to the morality of the majority. Before people were tortured to death, their existence and their souls were erased from society. As if they did not exist, as if they were not human, as if they were simply objects.
Today, these inhuman atrocities are carried out digitally.
And that includes “lynching” We say.
Lynching is the killing of a person without judgment, often by a large group of people. “presumed guilty” violence. It is unlawful; it is instantaneous, done in anger. The psychology of the crowd is decisive. “Justice” It comes out with a claim, but it's really revenge. The crowd gathers, humanity is forgotten, revenge is taken and everyone disperses as if nothing had happened.
Reclamation, on the other hand, is permanent. It has a logic, a justification, a moral language. It even has an unwritten, secret law... That is why it is like a twin to lynching, but more permanent.
Be it lynching, be it recmim...
Both are reflections of the darkest side of humanity.
In both, the line between spectator and participant is blurred. It is not clear who is the spectator and who is the executioner. The victim is dehumanized. “Deserved punishment” discourse is put into circulation. Society justifies its own conscience. And all is legitimized with the same sentence:
“We didn't do it, he deserved it.”
“Make an example.”
“Everybody watch your step.”
***
This is why lynchings in the digital age have started to be carried out with the logic of recm. Instant anger has merged with moral justification. Silencing became permanent. Sometimes a single post was enough for this execution. Sometimes a sentence. Sometimes just a stance...
The crowd quickly gathers.
The algorithm magnifies.
Conscience disintegrates.
No one will touch you.
But everyone is there.
And perhaps the most painful thing is this:
The first stone is not thrown by ordinary people, but by those who are expected to set an example for society.
Those who should defend the rule of law...
Those who are expected to nurture a sense of justice.
Those who define themselves as “intellectuals”, academics, journalists with millions of followers, public figures, artists, columnists...
Even more shocking: Some political structures that promise rights, law and justice for all and say they are candidates for the governance of the country are calculating how these digital stones will be laid on certain floors of their buildings, which words will be thrown, and who will throw the first stone.
So digital reclamation is often not spontaneous.
Planned.
Language is prepared.
The first word is selected.
And the rest is left to the crowd.
That's why this is just a “lynching” It is not.
This is a planned execution of the institutionalized other.
“No physical violence” It is said. It is true. But the human body dies once; the soul is wounded again and again every day...
***
This is exactly what digital reclamation does: it silences, isolates, makes people doubt themselves. It puts them in the ground while they are alive.
There is no executioner in this new punishment.
There is no accountability.
Everyone is innocent.
Everybody just gave their opinion.
But the result does not change.
Every day the same scene repeats:
First a sentence is quoted.
It is taken out of context.
Then “did he deserve it?” The question is circulated.
Morality is called for.
The execution is completed before the end of the day.
A journalist.
An activist.
A woman.
A student.
A human being.
The mechanism is always the same:
First they are marginalized.
Then the crowd gathers.
A long and slow torture is initiated with words, images, videos.
Digital recidivism punishes not only the present but also the future. It robs him of his job, his dignity, his right to speak and, ultimately, his right to be human.
There is only one way out of this evil. To be human and to stay human...
But being human is both very easy and incredibly difficult.
And the loss of humanity starts not from picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it, but from standing there, watching, being silent.
This is why the digital lynching and the digital reclamation on social media today are so powerful. Because dehumanization here is not through active violence, but through passive acceptance, through an indifferent gaze, “the one who doesn't touch me” in the comfort of your own home.
The individual shrinks as the crowd grows.
Conscience becomes silent as responsibility dissipates.
As a person gets used to the sound of a stone thrown at someone else, he loses the sound of his own conscience.
And when conscience is silenced, justice is exhausted.
And perhaps the real question is this:
If we continue to stand in the crowd thinking that we are not throwing stones, who will stop us when it is our turn?