Heat of the Internet
- Imphal Times Editorial :: September 06 2020 -

The availability of data/internet at cheap rates has revolutionized the technology scene in India.

Many are now able to avail the various services that the World Wide Web has to offer.

Earlier, internet access was only limited to desk top Computer users but with the coming of affordable Smartphones, majority of the people is now connected to the internet.

But as they say every coin has its two sides, good and ugly, even these all good internet loved by many has many downsides too.

Many are using social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter like never before.

Whether it is expressing their happiness or grievances, many use these platforms as a medium of expression.

Also, many people use these platforms to promote their business as it has wider reach as compared to traditional medium like Newspaper or television.

With its wider reach, many crimes relating to the use of internet have increased drastically.

Whether it may be Cyber Bullying, Phishing, Financial fraud or other crimes, many are starting to bear the heat of it.

It has become a trend in Manipur to mock someone and troll them, when someone makes some mistakes in their social media post.

This act of trolling is good for some to gain publicity but it can have negative impact for some.

Cases of posting obscene pictures of someone in social media or circulating it on messaging platform are on the rise.

Whereas it is easy for the law enforcement agency to nab the culprit behind such crime but the damage done to the victim is irreparable.

Majority of the people using internet in Manipur do not have much know-how of being secure in the World Wide Web to prevent such crimes from happening.

One need to understand that whatever being posted in the Internet, whether the individual deleted it or not, is always there residing at some corner of the world and it has been rightly said “The Internet never forgets”.

In this regard, the Cyber Crime Department of Manipur is somewhat proactive in pursuing reported crimes.

However, there is a need of creating awareness among the general masses and the concerned authority should raise more awareness about the perils of Technology if used in the wrong side, among the youth to prevent any unwanted crimes.

As of now, there are not much awareness programme being initiated by any concerned, whatsoever.

Also, the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 is also quite outdated and it needs to be updated keeping in mind the current scenario.

The IT Act 2000 is quite ambiguous and doesn’t have any provisions of new type of crimes that can be executed with the help of Information Technology.

Whatever the case may be, we should try to imbibe only the good things that the internet has to offer and take its advantages rather than going downhill.