A major share of parents have strictly warned their minor children to shut their social media accounts
Till recent times, social media channels, including Facebook and WhatsApp, were the platforms to link people across the globe, and for the younger generation — irrespective of gender — a space for self-promotion. But now, the scene has completely changed.
After the recent expose of the online sex racket incident which has got wide coverage in the media, there seems to be an atmosphere of caution and fear bordering on phobia when it comes to social media platforms.
A majority of users who had been spending a lot of time on these sites have decided to keep aloof from social networking because of fear.
Model-turned-anchor Drishya Mukundan, who hails from Kozhikode, says she quit Facebook after she found it to be an unsafe place for women..
“I was very active on Facebook for the last six years and around two-three years back, I had started uploading my own pictures to that account. As I was engaged in modelling those days, I used to share those photos too. But later, I received many messages through Facebook which had indecent content. Some of them managed to send the screenshots of my photos. Amid that, I received some messages from the profile of one Reshmi, informing that she was planning a film and if I was interested in acting. As I thought it as a genuine offer, I made a call to the number she gave me, but it was attended by a male. I felt something wrong. This is what actually happening on Facebook and such sites,” she says.
It is not an isolated incident. After the news regarding Facebook pages, including Kochusundarikal, came out, a major share of parents have strictly warned their minor children to shut their accounts and have denied the internet access as a precaution step.
“After hearing the news, even I am not using the (Facebook) account,” says Smitha Sreejith, parent of a grade four girl student. “My policy is that Facebook and such sites should be denied for the kids, until the age of 18. So I have not allowed my daughter to start an account. And what is the use of Facebook and WhatsApp? It is for the friends, who are in distance places, to chat and share their ideas. Children do not want this and moreover, many parents are creating accounts under the name of their child below 10 years old. This creates introverts who live in a virtual world,” says Smitha.
“When my daughter surfs on Google for school assignments, I used to sit along with her to guide her. We cannot predict what all sites will come to the monitor as Google suggestions,” she says.
According to Hi-Tech Crime Enquiry Cell Assistant Commissioner Vinayakumaran Nair, social website is not a negative phenomenon, if used wisely.
“It is the criminals, who use the fake identities on these sites, who are creating these issues, including circulating fake news and morphed pictures. In many cases, the pictures were found as taken from the unprotected accounts. We can use the privacy settings to protect our pictures to restrict the unknown to check our account,” he says.
“In the real life, usually we choose our friends after understanding his/her whereabouts, positives as well as negatives. Like that before adding a person as a friend on these sites, just try to understand more about him/her, by checking their timeline. It is the basic solution to suppress the criminal activities on these sites,” says the officer.
He cites the majority of people are reluctant in lodging complaints against online offences. “We can take actions against the atrocities against women and children, along with the defamatory posts, take place on these sites. If people could produce the evidence, like screen shots of such posts, it would help the investigation,” he says.
In the meantime, an actor says that the government should impose rules and regulations to be followed during the creating account on these sites. “It would help the police to track down the criminals, if his/her account was registered by linking with any of the government approved identity cards,” the senior actor says.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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