FINE CYBER BULLIES, ACTRESS URGES
ZENANDE Mfenyana has been a victim of cyber bullying and wants more to be done to those who deliberately cause emotional harm to others.
As a celebrated actress, Mfenyana is a public figure who has had to deal with a lot of scrutiny from people.
She is one of the actors on popular telenovela The Queen, which trends every day on social media.
Mfenyana took on a new role as a mom and while she was pregnant and still working on the telenovela, she was cyber bullied for the way she looked.
“I experienced cyber bullying during my pregnancy. Night after night during the show, people would make so many hurtful comments about my appearance on TV.
“They would take screenshots, circle my dark neck, big nose and even make fun of the way I was walking.
What is worse is that they would tag me in these nasty comments, which meant that they intended for me to see them.”
Her self-esteem suffered from the constant negative comments she received on social media and believes that it is important for those who have experienced the same, to be supported through counselling.
“Counselling needs to be offered to those who have been directly affected by cyber bullying. Whether it be personal one-on-one sessions, or it be via Zoom. But we need to get to address the way a lot of people are affected by cyber bullying so that we can prevent things like suicide.”
She said what upset her the most was how easily people could speak negatively about others, adding that there was an expectation for people who were in the public eye to never retaliate.
“I feel like there is an expectation for those who are in the public eye to keep quiet when being bullied on the net for fear of tarnishing their brand.
It’s such a difficult space to navigate because you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” she said.
Mfenyana is also a supporter and activist of the LGBTQIA+ community, and feels strongly about the protection of the community from cyber bullies.
“It’s not fair that the LGBTQIA+ community needs to constantly fight to be heard and seen and for them to not share the same equal rights and privileges that the heterosexual community experiences.”
Mfenyana said she would like to see social media platforms take more responsibility for the protection of the different communities engaging on their platforms.
“Social media networks are definitely not doing enough to address cyber bullying. It’s not enough that someone’s account gets temporarily suspended, we need more drastic measures put in place to address these social media ills that we face daily.
“People need to get fined, and even have their accounts permanently suspended,” she said.