Social media is a funny world that lets you be who you want to be depending on the news cycle of the day. One day people are national security experts, it’s time to wear geopolitical specialists hat another day, and these days, everyone is an aviation enthusiast.

There is something more than just grief when it comes to an airline mishap. It unites people to come up with varied likely theories and put them out there in a bid to provide answers before the experts do. We saw it happen in the case of Malaysia Airlines MH370, whose disappearance almost 11 years ago remains one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries and has inspired documentaries.

As we all wait for experts to decipher the Black Box of Air India flight AI 171, there is no dearth of experts today leveraging social media platforms to list out the various likely causes of the horrific crash. The engagement-linked payout models of social media platforms also give them an additional push to make their content sensational.

Given that an overload of content is what drives media business models today, the experts are also finding a larger platform to inflate their self-importance. Even as this content is feeding the hunger of conspiracy theorists, it is also impacting those who are grappling with the tragedy.

Do these theories help the families mourning their loved ones? Will these help them as they navigate their own baggage of questions and confusions? Are these theories going to play any role to make the investigation any easier?

Yes, freedom of speech is important but it will be great if self-professed experts understand that with freedom also comes responsibility.

Published on June 16, 2025