Insidious demons in social media

A startling report by the Cyber Crimes Awareness Foundation of Bangladesh (CCABD) reveals that young people falling in the 18-30 age bracket are the most vulnerable to a variety of cyber-crimes, ranging from harassment to financial fraud. The survey also finds that more than 51 per cent of the victims are women while around 49 per cent are men.

Abuse through the misuse of social platforms is now a global concern with its diabolical manifestation giving us a wake-up call last year with the Blue Whale phenomenon, a net-based game which manipulated young minds, eventually driving many to death. While the Blue Whale menace is at the sharp end of the misuse of the net, more general forms of psychological harassment, aiming women, are widespread and, Bangladesh is no exception.

Women victims have disclosed that they often receive indecent message on social media containing sexually explicit language from accounts that seem to have been created solely with the purpose of carrying out psychological torment. The strict Pornography Control Act, 2012, clearly underlines the punishment for distributing or sending lewd messages with the intent to degrade someone.

However, the problem is, many victims, growing up in traditional families, decide to ignore these aberrant messages, thereby emboldening the harassers. The consequences of remaining silent allow many abusers on social platform to roam about the net freely, regularly upping their tactics of psychological torture.

While the authority has become very active in recent times to curb cyber-crimes, the primary awareness needs to come from within the family sphere where children/teenagers should have the liberal atmosphere to talk to parents about their concerns.

It’s a sad truth that our families, in their effort to impose a sense of outdated ‘values’ upon their young ones, often fail to adapt their outlook to the evolution of society.

The fact that about 49 per cent men are also targets on social media is another perturbing aspect which needs more analysis. From the information that is available so far, it’s safe to speculate that most men are targeted either for the purpose of radicalizing or for financial fraud. However, abuse of social media by pedophiles is something which we cannot brush off. There was an arrest of a local photographer a few years ago who peddled private photos of young boys and teenagers to sexual deviants abroad.

An immediate necessity is to open up a social media harassment cell at all colleges and universities where young people will be able to relate their concerns with ease.

Insidious demons in social media

A startling report by the Cyber Crimes Awareness Foundation of Bangladesh (CCABD) reveals that young people falling in the 18-30 age bracket are the most vulnerable to a variety of cyber-crimes, ranging from harassment to financial fraud. The survey also finds that more than 51 per cent of the victims are women while around 49 per cent are men. Abuse through the misuse of social platforms is now a global concern with its diabolical manifestation giving us a wake-up call last year with the Blue Whale phenomenon, a net-based game which manipulated young minds, eventually driving many to death. While the Blue Whale menace is at the sharp end of the misuse of the net, more general forms of psychological harassment, aiming women, are widespread and, Bangladesh is no exception. Women victims have disclosed that they often receive indecent message on social media containing sexually explicit language from accounts that seem to have been created solely with the purpose of carrying out psychological torment. The strict Pornography Control Act, 2012, clearly underlines the punishment for distributing or sending lewd messages with the intent to degrade someone. However, the problem is, many victims, growing up in traditional families, decide to ignore these aberrant messages, thereby emboldening the harassers. The consequences of remaining silent allow many abusers on social platform to roam about the net freely, regularly upping their tactics of psychological torture. While the authority has become very active in recent times to curb cyber-crimes, the primary awareness needs to come from within the family sphere where children/teenagers should have the liberal atmosphere to talk to parents about their concerns. Its a sad truth that our families, in their effort to impose a sense of outdated values upon their young ones, often fail to adapt their outlook to the evolution of society. The fact that about 49 per cent men are also targets on social media is another perturbing aspect which needs more analysis. From the information that is available so far, its safe to speculate that most men are targeted either for the purpose of radicalizing or for financial fraud. However, abuse of social media by pedophiles is something which we cannot brush off. There was an arrest of a local photographer a few years ago who peddled private photos of young boys and teenagers to sexual deviants abroad. An immediate necessity is to open up a social media harassment cell at all colleges and universities where young people will be able to relate their concerns with ease.