Digital Media and Women: Usage, Challenges and Outcome (A Study of Women in Jaipur)

Abstract

The advent of Internet has taken the world in a swirl. Living in a digital age, we treat Internet as our lifesaver and rely on this technology for a broad array of things from paying our bills to finding a life partner, so on and so forth. Technology has made things easier but it has also created many threats for the society and it is constantly increasing. It is a need to be careful all the time while accessing Internet otherwise a person can easily become the victim. Each one of us our connected through technology that let people communicate with each other. The availability of mobiles, personal computers, laptops and ease of access to Internet made things easier but at the same time the risk of being the victim of crime in virtual world has also increased. The more usage also affecting the health of people and women have been seen more affected to it. Cybercriminals keep their eye on various digital media platforms including job and marriage website where women post their personal information. The revealing of such information has made women more a target of cyber crime. It has also been seen that women are less aware about the laws regarding cyber crime and most of the times they shy or have fear of reporting such type of crimes.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

The technology is advancing day by day and it is providing vary of options to perform over cyberspace in fraction of seconds. The computer does not understand the normal language so when we type certain command to be performed by the computer through our keyboard and then the information is converted into binary form, and Gottfried Leibniez traced this binary system in 1600s. He used this system for coding, computing and to research on his ideas for machines. Hence, this binary system is used today in the laptops, computers and smartphones turning the world into ‘Digital World’.

Today, we live in a digital society in the sense that we are in an era where our lives, our relationships, our culture, and our sociality are digitized, digitalized, and affected throughout by digital processes. (1)

The information is flowing over this medium. People are using it for the routine work also whether to buy some grocery, booking tickets or paying bills etc. The easy availability of mobile smart phones has led people to spend most of their time on this space. Some people are so much addicted that they have turned into android robots where they start their day holding their phones from morning till late in night, they share each and every detail regarding what they have in breakfast, dinner or where they are travelling etc. Each of their minute detail is shared on this medium. The society is gradually turning into Digital Society.

The Digital World gives the feature of anonymity which is used by some cyber criminals to commit crime on this platform and it has been seen that most of the times cyber crimes are commit more on women then men. Due to lack of awareness, cybercrime victims, especially women, do not come out in open and register a complaint, and even if they do, they are not taken seriously. (2)

The graph above clearly shows the statistics of several Internet users in India from 2015 to 2023. It is clearly showing that in 2018 there were 483 million users of the Internet and in 2019 the number has increased to 525.3 million and in 2023 it is expected to reach 666.4 million. India has become the second-largest online market worldwide because of the easy availability of mobile phones and companies offering cheap plans for the Internet thus the usage of the Internet are growing swiftly.

A. Digital Media and its effect on Women

We are living in a society where one side we treat women as Goddess and on the other side still there are families where women are not allowed to speak because if they will speak or put their opinion, it will be considered as disregard to the family and it will affect the so called ‘HONOR’ of the family. Hence, in this type of situation women feel the need to express their thoughts, opinions freely and they find Social Media as the best way to do it. Social Media would affect the genders in different ways, since they may use social media in fundamentally different ways, at least on average-some experts have suggested that girls make more comparisons between themselves and others, which is notoriously bad for mental health. (3)

It has also been seen that women are less aware of security and privacy measures which easily help the cyber criminals to target such women and commit cyber crime by morphing their pictures and using it in porn movies, cyber bullying them etc.

B. Interconnectivity Between Digital Media and Cyber Crime

There were the days when we write and erase if we don’t like the content. But the advancement in technology has changed the present scenario. Netizens, are not aware of the fact that once the data is posted it cannot be deleted, it will remain online forever.

The usage of the Internet has increased over the years due to the easy availability of mobile phones/smartphones. Users can easily access the Internet from any part of the world. Hence, this convenience has led people to spend more time on Digital Media and excess usage of this medium led netizens more vulnerable to Cyber Crime. The risk of cybercrime is increasing day by day as most of the people access this medium from their mobile phones and in case their mobile phone gets stolen, any person can easily get the information of the user and can misuse with their private information. The Social Media networks sites are themselves not fully secured to protect their own data. As Facebook reported in the year 2015, 31 million accounts on its platform were fake. Other sites like LinkedIn and Twitter also admitted the presence of fake accounts on their networks (Arora and Mendhekar, 2017). (4)

It has been seen that people are aware of Digital Media but they are less aware of the cyber crimes associated with it. Netizens hold less knowledge about privacy and safety measures. Every sixth cybercrime in India is committed through Social Media (Ray and Ghoshal, 2016). (5)

Hayes (2016), says that the attackers now have incredibly broad reach and can easily manipulate users and execute a variety of widespread cyber attacks and scams, including everything from social engineering to exploit distribution to counterfeit sales to brand impersonations, account takeovers, customer fraud, and much more. (6)

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Violence against Women in Cyber World: A Special Reference to India

Singh (2015), opine in the paper that Information Technology has given the opportunity to freely express the views and share ideas. It has given the facility of anonymity and privacy which women can use it and can freely express their views without any fear but as it is said that everything as its negative sides too. Similarly, the cyber space has also its bad side it has created a great threat, which is known as Cyber Crime. Most of the cases happen are against women as they can easily be exploited because of fear of defamation, shyness, thinking about society etc. Women get unknown calls, messages, emails harassing them which results in some women committing suicide. The paper also gives the example of Celina Jaitley, a Bollywood actress, who had filed a complaint with Mumbai Police against two websites including a foreign one, which have allegedly morphed her pictures and upload them to promote lingerie products. To curb this problem one should adopt safety measures before surfing over the net by changing passwords from time to time, not revealing personal information on social networking sites, understanding of privacy settings, maintaining stable social relationship, antivirus should also be updated from time to time. (7)

B. Social Media: Usage and Impact

Martin and Erickson (2013) in the book, 'Social Media: Usage and Impact', states that social media act as a powerful means of social relations in this 21st century which is continuing to emerge as a major force in global world. He opines that social media is a coordinating tool for nearly all of the world's political movements. The author also examines the current scenario of social media monitoring and engagement of corporations in social media like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Hence, this book is fruitful for my research study as it examines the key features of social media and their significance in contemporary higher education as it provides an opportunity for both the teachers and students to be in contact, they can share their resources with each other as well as if a student has a doubt they can chat on social media and can ask their doubts. These days many universities and colleges have maintained profiles on facebook or any other social networking sites through which it has become easier for the student and faculty to interact. The author in the book has made a comprehensive and inclusive overview of social media usage and its impact. (8)

C. Ethical Issues in Online Communication

Thapar and Kapatia(2013), in this paper explains the "Cyber World" disadvantages . The paper focuses on the ethical issues faced by users including issues concerning

privacy, intellectual property rights, confidentiality, online identity etc. Researcher has also focus on the threats underpinning these issues and the possible ways to counter them. It states that Online Communication transcends the geographical and cultural boundaries to make this world a global village but there are always some ethical issues inherent in it, the paper has provided suggested procedures to avoid ethical violations. It also states that the user should control what is coming to the inbox and what gets deleted. The user should select the software that comes up with the updates, new techniques etc.

Hence, this paper is effectual for my research study, as it has provided a bird's eye view of the issues faced by online users and provided the suggested procedures to avoid those ethical violations. (9)

D. A Study on Cyber Crime and Security Scenario in India

Joshi and Singh (2013), states that the expanding reach of internet has made possible for the people to be in contact with each other across long distances. It has provided the facility for free flow of information without any restriction and geographical boundaries. Thus, some people to exploit the other individuals can use such freedom. Further, the paper describes that to combat such problem law has to make various amendments to keep the pace so that technology does not become the tool for exploitation or harassment. It also opines that in the real world if a crime occurs it can be trace through finger prints, marks, strains etc but in the virtual world or cyberspace it is difficult to trace the criminal and because of this anonymity feature it gives more motivation to the criminal to commit crime. To control this netizens should follow some steps such as not to send any photograph online that can be misuse by people, always use up to date antivirus software, never share the credit card details with anyone. The law should also be made flexible so that the needs of the society and technology advancement can easily adjust. (10)

E. Cyber Crime against Women

Agarwal & Kasuhik (2014), in these paper states that Information Technology is increasing and as a result Cyber Crime is also increasing in all the directions and women are the soft targets for Cyber Criminals. Issues related to Cyber Crime such as Cyber Stalking, Harassment via Email, Cyber Defamation, Morphing etc has been discussed in this paper. It states that as it has become easy to circulate information over internet and especially women if they share personal information such as contact details etc as a result they become more prone to the Cyber Crime. It also states that we should not talk with people over the cyber space we don’t know. Internet gives the facility of privacy and anonymity which are used by the criminals to interact with their targets and many a times it has been seen that they claim to be someone else and make their fake identity to easily convince and fool their target. It opines that Indian women netizens do not report for cyber crime as a result it gives chance to criminal to escape after the commission of cyber crime. (11)

III. METHODOLOGY

A. Statement of the Problem

Humans have turned into android robots and dwell in a cyber world; the question of its side effects or misuse is indeed relevant. Women seem to forget that they are revealing their personal information to those who are not in their circle of friends, as Digital Media has become a part of daily life for many people because of the easy and convenient communication. Thus, the research will investigate the awareness among women regarding usage of Digital Media. The study will observe the linkage between Digital Media and Cyber Crime, how it affects the women and will also suggest the counter measures to minimize the effect of Cyber Crime. Hence, The research study is done with the help of primary data as well as secondary data. The sample of 100 respondents (women) from the city of Jaipur of various age groups- 19-25yrs, 26-35yrs and 36-50yrs have been taken. The data type is Quantitative in nature and it is non-probability (random sampling method) type of sample as the investigator has chosen the respondents of his own choice.

B. Objectives

1. To observe the access and usage of Social Networking Sites among women in Jaipur.
2. To examine level of awareness regarding Cyber Crime among Women in Jaipur.
3. To trace out the problems faced by Women users.
4. To identify the impact of Social Networking websites on social life, academic performance, personality and other activities of women.

C. Hypothesis

1. Excess usage of Digital Media makes Netizens vulnerable to Cyber Crime.
2. Cyber Crime is increasing day by day in Jaipur.
3. Low level of awareness regarding uses and misuses of Internet among women.
4. Women are more vulnerable to Cyber Crime.

D. Sample Selection

1. Total number of people 100
2. 100 women
3. 40respondents (19-25) yrs., 30 people (25 -35) yrs. 30 people (35-50) yrs.

E. Tool & Technique

Structured Questionnaire

Conclusion

It has been seen that Digital Media in Indian society has shown a major change in social and personal behavior of women. The excess usage of Digital Media or Social Networking Sites results in various health problems such as depression, mood swings etc. People hide their identity on such platforms to exploit or defame women and play with their feelings. It is also traced out that excess usage of social media also lead to cyber crime. Digital Media has become an integral part of our society. People have been converted into android robots or digital-savvy. Everything is now digital just sitting at one place netizens can do anything whether to pay a bill, shop clothes, household things, etc. everything is possible in this big digital world. The growth in technology has led to many changes in our society and it has a significant effect on women in our society. Women most of the time publicize their personal information on cyberspace which is misused by cybercriminals and they use it for identity theft, cyber bullying, cyber blackmailing, etc. It has also been seen that their pictures are morphed and are used in porn sites. People hide their realities on this platform and play with the emotions and feelings of women. The world has turned into \'Global Village. Each of us is connected through a network. The invention of the World Wide Web, mobile phones, the Internet came with large benefits but at the same time it has adverse effects also which Cyber Crime majorly causes and this is mostly taking place against women. Cyber Criminals know very well that it is not easy to identify them and their location. So, they take advantage of such a feature of the Digital World. It has been traced out that women get calls and messages from unknown people which leads to their harassment, these cybercriminals for taking revenge post defamatory statements on social media platforms which portrays a bad image of them in society and result in it forces them to commit suicide. The major cause of exploitation of women is also that they have fear of filing a complaint against the cybercriminal due to family or society pressure and it has been observed that women are less aware of the laws, security and privacy measures which are the major cause for cyber victimization.

References

[1] Lindgren, S. (2017). Digital Media and Society. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. [2] Mehrotra, S. (2017, June 29). Social Media and women’s safety in a digital world. Retrieved from https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tele-talk/social-media-and-women-s-safety-in-a-digital-world/2456 [3] Walton, A. G. (2019, January 5). Social Media (Again) Shown To Be Worse For Girls’ Mental Health Than Boys’. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2019/01/05/social-media-again-shown-to-be-worse-for-girls-mental-health-than-boys/#343a56cf5057 [4] Singh, J. (2015). Violence against women in cyber world: a special reference to India. International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences, 4(1), 60-76. [5] Martin, P., & Erickson, T. (2013). Social media: Usage and Impact. New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House. [6] Thapar, S., & Kapatia, V. (2013). Ethical Issues in Online Communication. Communication Today ,61-73. [7] Joshi, Y., & Singh, A. (2013). A study on cyber crime and security scenario in India. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 3(3), 13-18. [8] Agarwal, N., & Kaushik, N. (2014). Cyber Crimes Against Women. Global Journal of Research in Management, 4(1), 37-49.

Copyright

Copyright © 2022 Nikita Batra. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.