Social Media Distancing: A Necessary Prevention against Cyber Crime

Covid 19 has taught us a new terminology i.e., social distancing which literally means stay away from others as much as possible to stop spreading of the virus. This gave us the opportunity to spend time with our families and ourselves, watching comedy series, use social media for communication during the complete lockdown.

Social media are the web-based software applications which are used for messaging, video calling, sharing of images, videos, audios, documents etc., taking screenshots, etc. In short, they have become the easiest way to share our lives and thoughts with the close ones. During COVID pandemic, it is observed that the use of social media is increased expeditiously. Due to social distancing and isolation, whole families were using social media differently.

Many of the individuals have started their video blogs of food making, funny short videos, motivational videos etc. People have got so addicted to these social media applications that they have forgotten their personal and private space. Everybody is uploading photos and videos of places they have visited, with whom they have travelled, personal moments as well.

These have left a huge impact on social as well as personal life. People are not aware about the cyber crimes that can happen to them. It is a genre of crime in which computer and network is used to commit an offense. Some cyber crimes can even ruin lives completely. Cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying are also considered criminal offense, in which the victim is stalked or harassed using any digital means. There are many more like spying, threatening, blackmailing, photo morphing etc. These cyber criminals are extremely skilled and knowledgeable about the newest technologies. These criminal minds can invade to the social media accounts of an individual and manipulate accordingly. The photos and videos uploaded can be misused for abusive contents. Pictures are morphed and uploaded on pornographic websites. If a couple is posting a video or picture, they can also get blackmailed by the cyber attackers.

There are ways to prevent the cyber crimes and protect ourselves from such situations. For example, updating software’s regularly, not using third party applications which are not in the play store/Apple store, using complex passwords for accounts, not clicking on the untrusted links, avoiding sharing one’s personal information and passwords with others, locking our devices properly etc. Younger generations, those are more vulnerable to get victimized should be more careful while handling their personal profiles as well as dealing with strangers on social media. Founding a new adventurous social group might sound exciting, but it might invite cyber predators. As COVID taught us to keep safe distance from one another, we should also keep a safe distance on the social media to maintain our private space securely. Otherwise, just like COVID, cyber crime will also destroy many lives worldwide.