By Ilhamie Arif
Social media has changed the way society now socialises. Many people do not realise that social media might portray negative consequences which could endanger one’s life. Many have been threatened because of misuse of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are some online misbehaviours where people normally overlook like cyberbullying, identity theft, sexual harassment, spreading rumours and so forth.
Commenting on one’s post with bad words, provoking or cursing, sending threatening messages online has become a trend without realising that it causes emotional trauma, and sometimes even leading to suicide. A 2012 study found that at least 800,000 minors had been harassed on Facebook. Middle school children who experienced cyberbullying were almost twice as likely to try to kill themselves.
“I shared a post on Facebook about the tremendous floods in Kelantan, to be specific in Manik Urai, the most affected area compared to other areas. I found out my name was among the five individuals spreading rumours and targeted at by the authority a day after sharing it. I was shocked at that time and directly went to nearest police station near USIM,” said Siti Hawa Mat Yunan, a USIM student who has been charged for that offence. The story did not end there. The pressure she got from fellow friends, family and people affected by the floods made her depressed until she could not attend classes and this has disrupted her concentration since it happened during her final examination.
Apart from that, one might use someone’s personal information on Facebook and Instagram based on his or her own interest. They might post something which goes against one’s belief, or post indecent photos that has been edited on Instagram just to tarnish one’s image.
“Anything could happen in social media, since I myself have experienced somebody posting my photos (edited) with a group of guys drinking alcohol in a pub on fake Instagram and worse, he /she shared it on Facebook that he/she created pretending to be me with caption ‘having best friends like you guys makes me feel so special,” said Diana, a 17-year old girl who was a victim of identity theft that she experienced a few years back.
She said that she cannot do anything while giving explanation in her own Facebook page to make things clear. She said friends and family members gave positive feedback since they are well educated and able to understand what is happening even if there are still a few people who blame her. However, it opened her eyes regarding social media as she never took it seriously until it really happened.
One should be reminded not to use social media excessively, for example, to check on Facebook every time going out because we never know someone maybe following us and by that, we make their work much easier to trace every movement we make. In addition, one should limit and choose the kind of photos to be uploaded on Instagram because someone can just edit it and repost it in a negative way, especially for women.
“I can obviously see young people use social media in a wrong way. Lately, rape cases that I covered are mostly caused by social media and even if you go to Facebook and type ‘gay Malaysia’, most of them are youngsters. Even though it is not a crime but still it’s a social problem and worse still, it gives a bad name to Malaysia and ‘Kaum Melayu’ itself,” said Mohd Jamilul Anbia Md Denin, a crime editor of Harian Metro.
“There are cases that led to death because of social media usage on a basis of jealousy between husband and wife.”
“Social media is good but some restrictions from parents are required especially when we talk of young people because they are actually more advanced than the older people. We do not want the freedom and exposure to social media given by guardians could lead to unexpected consequences and might jeopardise one’s life.”***
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