Arresting internet abuses

FE Team | Published: November 03, 2017 19:03:13

The apparently innocuous world of knowledge and virtual entertainment is fast being plagued by unwarranted developments. Bangladesh has lately started feeling the heat. The dreaded Blue Whale game apart, the facility proves intoxicating for younger generation. After its initial appearance as a compulsive habit, it has already assumed the proportions of an addiction. With the availability of internet connections on smart phones, the online medium has literally turned omnipresent.
The invention of the internet medium, coupled with the social media, was a watershed event in the field of information and communication. It is beyond dispute that internet has radicalised the way which man employs in connecting minds with minds. On a certain scale, it also serves as a source of handy knowledge. The medium is replete with vast prospects and has emerged as one of the most essential gadgets for the modern man. But widespread abuses have veritably marred its great potential. The syndrome has now become global. Bangladesh also has been drawn into this whirlpool.
The list of internet's harmful impacts on the young users is, despairingly, long. As time wears on, newer devices are innovated, many of which begin enjoying instant popularity among the youths. Proving the misgivings over fresh technological inventions baseless, the internet has also added to life's speed. Unfortunately, abuses began overshadowing its benefits in some cases. To many, internet breeds hitherto unknown criminal activities. Thanks to the insidious entry of rogue elements into the cyber world, the internet has also been made to become synonymous with scores of evil. It has been seen lately that the fast rise in the internet-bred entertainments also goes parallel with stoking baser human instincts. In 2017, following highly advanced countries, many internet users in Bangladesh have made online entertainments integral to their existence. To call them addicted to internet is no overstatement.
Against the backdrop of endless supplies of banal and nasty entertainments, including those enticing users to violent behaviours, the very computer has emerged as a dread in society. The easy availability of pornographic films and deadly games like Blue Whale has reasons to deeply trouble society's conscious segments. With young and teenage children becoming inattentive to studies and taking to sex-related crimes and senseless violence overnight can keep few sane people unfazed. Moreover, internet addiction spawns lots of health hazards. What's most alarming, a section of working mothers in cities leave their tiny tots with baby computers, so that they can remain engrossed in the virtual world while they are away. Bangladesh has seen a sudden spurt in internet crimes. Apart from those in the social sector, the medium's abuse has also struck the country's economy. We can refer to the Bangladesh Bank heist of 2016. All these menaces call for measures to detect their sources and restrict their availability. It has become a national imperative to save the country's gullible youths from the devastating impact of internet.