FACEBOOK ABUSE CATCHES FANCY

Facebook abuse now most-reported cyber crime in Punjab

SAS NAGAR: As many as 170 complaints related to abuse on facebook have been reported to the cyber cell of the state police since September 2011, making it the most reported cyber crime.

SAS NAGAR: With a local resident earlier this month accusing his wife and son of threatening him online, Facebook abuse now tops the cyber crime chart in the state with 170 complaints lodged.

Thought to be breakthrough in bringing people closer, the social networking media, of late, is working the other way round. On June 17, a man in Sector 70 here filed a complaint against his estranged wife and son that they had tried to tarnish his image using Facebook.

On June 12, a woman’s exhusband was arrested in Phagwara on a charge of creating her fake profile on Facebook to post offensive comments. So revolutionary that it got into the hands of common man in no time, the online tool is fast becoming users’ chosen medi- um of payback.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, deputy inspector general of police in the state cyber crime cell at Mohali, blames the spurt in cyber crime on the trend of constant status update. “Don’t post every small detail online. Put in public domain only what is important,” he said.

Revenge is easier when a Twitter jibe or a Facebook slur makes it instantaneous. “It is easy to get carried away by emotion when you have the option of fake identity,” said Priyanka Lakhmani, chief marketing officer of a reputed software company in Mohali.

Inaaz Manshahia, a regular social media user, seconds Priyanka’s views. “We can do it anonymously, with little fear of consequences,” she said. “Online technology has made revenge acceptable and the thought of an increasingly networked world is chilling,” she added.

“When you know there are no clear laws, the fear goes away,” said social branding expert Sanatan Baweja.