Sanjana Ganesan lashed out at trolls for demeaning her son Angad Bumrah. This has yet again sparked a conversation around the privacy of celebrity kids and the unkind nature of social media users that ceases to spare even a child.
A lot of celebrities choose to shield their children from the public eye to protect their privacy and give them a normal upbringing. And rightfully so - cameras are way too intrusive and the internet has become a vile place. Also, with the paparazzi culture, mobile cameras, and social media becoming more and more common, the trouble for public figures in this regard has increased many-folds. Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah and his wife Sanjana Ganesan are the latest to bear the brunt of this phenomenon.
It all started when Angad, Bumrah and Ganesan's one-and-half year old son, was seen accompanying his mother to Mumbai Indians’ game against Lucknow Super Giants. A moment of the toddler being unfazed by his father's heroics got captured on the cameras and that photo went viral in no time. However, what irked the couple was how certain social media users reacted to the photo with memes and unkind opinions regarding their child.
Taking strong objection to the trolling, Sanjana shared an Instagram story writing, “Our son is NOT a topic for your entertainment. Jasprit and I do everything in our power to keep Angad away from social media because the Internet is a despicable, vile place to be and I completely understand the implications of bringing a child to a cricket stadium filled with cameras, but please understand that Angad and I were there to support Jasprit and nothing else.”
“We have no interest in our son being viral Internet content or national news, with unnecessarily opinionated keyboard warriors deciding who Angad is, what his problem is, what his personality is, from 3 seconds of footage.” Sanjana added
“He is one and a half years old. Throwing around words like trauma and depression in reference to a baby says so much about who we're becoming as a community and it's honestly really sad. You know NOTHING about our son, nothing about our lives and I request you to keep your opinions online true to that. A little honesty and a little kindness goes a long way in today's world.” the broadcaster further wrote.
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While I am all for good humor and funny memes, there is a line no one should cross and targeting a child is unequivocally inappropriate and warrants serious reconsideration. The unkind comments on Angad’s pictures are a sheer violation of basic ethical boundaries, especially given the fact that he is a year and a half! Bumrah and Sanjana have consistently kept their kid away from the media limelight to protect his privacy and ward off unforgiving eyes and unkind opinions of social media users. Hence, using his images as meme materials and passing judgements on his ‘condition’ not only undermines their efforts to shield him, but also shows great disrespect towards the couple's constant request for their kid’s privacy.
What’s more shocking was the casual and flippant use of terms such as depression or trauma in memes surrounding the child. Besides, the lack of awareness regarding the complexity and seriousness of the issue, the other thing that the whole incident has brought to light is the growing insensitivity among netizens as they didn’t hesitate to associate such complex emotional states with a toddler for entertainment. Meme factories need to understand that Angad or any other celebrity kid shouldn’t be used as fodder for entertainment. Reducing these kids into viral content could have serious implications on the well-being of those associated with them and further amplify the controversial trend of objectifying minors for social media engagement.
The whole incident has once again exposed digital platforms to be largely insensitive and inconsiderate and has highlighted a need to call for collective digital responsibility, particularly when it comes to the privacy of children. In an era where social media can have lasting impacts, it is important to uphold moral values and not exploit minors for amusement!
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