People must realise that crime, if committed in the alternative cyberverse, is crime, too
Akshay Kumar. Pic/Yogen Shah
Recently, actor Akshay Kumar recounted how his teenage daughter dealt with sexual harassment while gaming online. While she was playing an online game that allowed strangers to interact, somebody initially engaged with her, sending polite, friendly messages. After some deceptively innocent remarks, upon learning from her that she is female, the person, shockingly, asked her for nude pictures of herself. She shut the game at once and informed her mother about what had happened.
The star was speaking at the inauguration of Cybersecurity Awareness Month at the Maharashtra Police headquarters. Like the actor cautioned, we, too, endorse that people need to see a pattern in this harassment. Predators first build trust and then attempt to exploit minors. This is a modus operandi that can spiral out of control. Minors and youngsters can get embroiled in this racket, which may end up in extortion, and as we have often read or heard about in suicide cases, too.
CM Devendra Fadnavis had stressed the importance of reporting cybercrime on helplines 1930 and 1945 within the Golden Hour, which is the hour immediately after the crime has occurred. This improved the odds of recovering stolen money. He said the state plans to raise awareness among school and college students on cybercrime. Fadnavis launched two resources that will be used in this campaign — a documentary on cybersecurity and a comic book for children called ‘Cyber Warrior’.
People must realise that crime, if committed in the alternative cyberverse, is crime, too. For instance, online sexual harassment is harassment just like offline. When informed, alert and aware, we are well armed against a growing tribe of criminals who have proven to be highly adept and adaptable.
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