Harassment on social networking sites
It has been a topic of debate ever since the existence of internet, whether “internet is a boon or curse”. Internet no doubt comes along with a big stock of boon, but some mischievous and notorious brains have turned it into a curse. While the internet comes with a array of benefit, it also carries along its demerits. Because of the insensitivity and distorted mindset of a few, a large no. of population on the internet has to suffer. Social networking sites provide a wide platform to people around the world and across countries to stay connected. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, and more have made the people get closer. We upload our pictures, status updates and also talk to our friends on these sites. At times, we also share our personal information here. On the other hand, these social networking sites can easily hide their identity and portray a fake person, crime has become way more easier. Crimes like cyber staking, cyber bulling, using offensive words, and sexual offences are wrapped behind these online websites. The main target of these cyber criminals are women, in almost all the cases. There is a plethora of cases were young girls, teenagers and office goers are harassed online. There are called by offensive words, slangs are made about sexuality, they are stalked online, absurd pictures are communicated, and many more. Many of these cases in India and other place are not even brought into notice. And here is one such case; comments like these are meant to insult women publicly but men who do that should be shamed. Do share this!
While the criminals do these act, they don’t even think about the upshot and effect of these act on the victim. These victim undergo mental trauma, especially the teenage girls. These teenagers who rely on the internet as the main source of their information, when turn on to wrong path, it becomes a golden opportunity for cyber criminals. The criminals manipulate the tender brain of these teens and land the in troubles. There are many instance were these harassed teen commit suicide or themselves commit other crimes like theft or even murder. There are many laws for prevention, protection and punishing such crimes. But these laws are not enough, been aware on the social networking sites is the basic preventive measure. One should be very careful on the internet. We should choose our friends carefully, share only a limited amount of information, update our pictures selectively and be aware while chatting with friends and sharing your personal information. Being cautious and aware is the only remedy to prevent oneself from the criminals who are always waiting for innocent prey. The rest we know one cannot help. Stay safe 🙂
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This article is written by Arpana Kumari, our intern.
