Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB/SP)

Udupi, Jun 26: Social media can have both good and bad influence on people. How to make use of the media is left to individual discretion.

Of late, people have become addicted to the use of apps. Right from small children to the aged, everyone is found busy using them. People may use social media for different purposes like entertainment, knowledge etc. Innumerable young lives have been ruined because of addiction to using Facebook and other such media.

WhatsApp has not lagged behind in creating its own share of controversies and it keeps updated with new trends. Many times, groups add phone numbers of individuals as members without the knowledge of the concerned. In many cases, those who have been made members of certain groups do not know who the admin of the group is. This trend has proved to be dangerous for the girls from coastal Karnataka. Once our phone number is added in some group, thousands of people will have free access to that number and there is danger of it being misused by at least some of them.

There is an 'Only Timepass Group,' a WhatsApp group created by some young people from Mumbai and Maharashtra. This group has leaked phone numbers of about 85 ladies. It is learnt that every day, at least ten young men call these numbers and speak in vulgar language. Out of fear of hurting their own images, many girls have not revealed this menace to others. The fact that several such numbers belong to girls from coastal Karnataka is a worrying development.

A girl from the town, Suhasini (name changed), used to get frequent calls bordering on vulgarity. Even after she called the admin of the group and warned him, there was no use. Therefore, she complained to the cyber-crime station here. The cyber police have contacted one among the group members and warned to immediately stop group activities. If you are getting unidentified calls and if the callers are using obscene words, you can directly file complaint in cyber police station.

"In the recent past, new problems are cropping up in the social media. If someone gets access to a number, they can easily get hold of photos. The girls should take precautions before sharing their personal photos. Photographs of girls are being grossly misused in Delhi and Mumbai. In coastal Karnataka, such an incident has been reported for the first time. There is need to take these things seriously. If people have such grievances, they are free to come to the cyber station at Udupi and register complaint," said cyber station house officer, speaking to Daijiworld.