Who let the screenshots out?
The culture of exposing on social media is seemingly getting out of hand. Should more be done to protect people online?
Every other day someone is getting called out or 'exposed', as it is more commonly known on social media, for something or the other. It takes just a click to set social media abuzz with such posts, regardless of whether the information being shared is accurate or not. More often than not, it is directed to disparage and sabotage someone out of vengeance.
The latest such incident that set social media abuzz involved screenshots of a conversation between a teacher and a student of the same institution, the name of which I'm omitting, to safeguard their identities. However, I'm pretty sure you already know. These screenshots were shared quickly, in and across different communities, and earned the epithet 'viral'.
In a society like ours, the aftermath is predictable, with everyone jumping in to be part of the trend. This callous attitude of the masses is concerning. There are a lot of implications and consequences for those who are being victimised.
The conversation in question was allegedly shared by the victim's boyfriend and shared online without her consent, in a deliberate attempt to vilify the reputations of the teacher-student duo. As soon as the post went viral, people from all parts of the country took part in the discussion, as is always the case with social media.
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Bangladesh quickly saw people picking sides with one or the other, or both. What they did and didn't say in their conversations became the subject of memes and reels.
People have varying opinions on the issue. Some are blaming the girl for whatever she did. While some are ridiculing the teacher for the alleged crime he committed. Another quarter is focusing on whether the student was a minor and whether the teacher was a paedophile.
These are all subjective opinions coming from people who don't know either of the two. I'll not be passing judgement about whether their actions were ethical or moral. But whatever they did was supposed to be between the two of them and nobody else. What I'm certain about is the fact that the leak of these conversations is outright cyber harassment, which is a crime in whichever country you're reading this from.
One could be forgiven for asking what the Digital Security Act (DSA) is doing to protect the victims? The act was passed in 2018, after widespread resistance and criticism from various quarters, to "protect" people online, as its name suggests. We see charges lodged by men of the ruling party against dissenting voices, political opposition, and journalists come to fruition at an outstanding pace. We've even seen people arrested before a case has been filed. But what happens when a cybercrime is committed against an ordinary citizen? Does the authority take the complaint with the sincerity that we see otherwise when involving the above group of people?
Bangladesh's predicament is worsening, as the number of cybercrime incidents have significantly increased in recent years. According to a recent study by the Bangladesh Cyber Security Council, 61% more cybercrimes were recorded in 2020 than in 2019.
Various crimes, including internet fraud, identity theft, hacking, cyberbullying, and harassment, fall under this category. The cyber tribunal has received over 4,500 cases since it was established in 2013, and the number is growing by the minute.
The majority of cybercrime cases nationally are concentrated in the Dhaka district. Chattogram is the region outside of Dhaka where cybercrime is most prevalent. An examination of the cases from 2021 shows that 15 districts account for more than half of the cases brought before the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal.
Most of these crimes were tried under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. This law makes it illegal to distribute distorted or offensive photographs online, as well as false and defamatory material. Therefore, what occurred between the instructor and the student in issue was unquestionably harassment and cyberbullying conduct.
Setting aside the issue of law enforcement, there is also the larger issue of public perception surrounding how people think about these sensitive issues. Do the masses ever understand what a cybercrime is and what a woman goes through in general online?
A research study titled "Online Violence Against Women 2022" by ActionAid Bangladesh found that up to 64 out of every 100 women in Bangladesh experienced harassment and abuse online, an increase from 50 the year before.
According to the research, women experienced abuse primarily on Facebook (47.60%), followed by Messenger (35.37%), Instagram (6.11%), IMO (3.06%), WhatsApp (1.75%), and YouTube (1.31%). The 349 respondents reported a variety of forms of harassment, including cyberstalking (16.16%), personal attack for supporting LGBTQ rights (13.10%), sending sexually explicit pictures to inboxes and soliciting sexual favours (53.28%), discrimination against women (19.71%), making fake IDs in people's names (17.47%) and hateful and offensive sexual comments (80.35%).
Cybercrime's effects on victims can be catastrophic. It may result in psychological harm, monetary loss, reputational harm, and career ruin. Because they fear the repercussions of reporting the crime or asking for help, many victims suffer in silence. Law enforcement organisations find it challenging to adequately investigate and prosecute these offences due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of cybercrime.
The government must adopt a more robust strategy to tackle cybercrime. The legal foundation for cybercrime must be strengthened, resources must be given to law enforcement agencies, and a comprehensive national plan needs to be developed. Additionally, social media sites need to be more accountable for the information posted on them and give users better methods for reporting criminality. Finally, let us all take a stricter stance against cybercrime. No one should be deprived of reaching out for support.
The writer is a third-year honours student majoring in Finance and Banking at Govt. BM College, Barishal.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
