Bollywood star and former adult movie actress Sunny Leone and her husband Daniel Weber recently adopted a little baby girl from Latur. Many saw this as something praiseworthy; where a child with an otherwise bleak future gets a privileged upbringing and a couple wanting a baby chooses to adopt rather than have a biological child of their own, use assisted reproduction or surrogacy. Adoption is among the most socially responsible ways to have a child. Others however saw this as an excuse for ad hominem attacks and to viciously troll the actor, her choices, past, present and more.
She is from Latur in Maharashtra and is 21 months old. For the past week or so, her life has unimaginably changed. Since being adopted by Sunny Leone and her husband Daniel Weber, she has a new home, family and fresh start at life.
Sunny Leone was quoted as saying “I look forward to her growing up to become independent and being her own woman.” Best wishes and congratulations started to flow in from B town celebs and others.
Some questioned the fact that ‘such’ a couple was permitted to adopt a child – an obvious reference to the couple’s past lives as adult movie actors. Some assumed that the child would lead a life of dark depravity as a result. The trolling soon became a vicious character assassination. The new mother probably expected this; she is a veteran at dealing with online trolling. She deals with it by ignoring the hate and blocking the haters.
The anonymity that an online platform gives people, makes it possible for them to spew their venom without fear or punishment or even social censure. Celebrities probably have the worst of it, but even regular citizens can receive death and rape threats if they say or stand for something that the trolls do not agree with.
Trolls are lonely, unhappy people who want others to be as miserable as they are. Some trolls feel the need to tell others how they must live, act and behave. Trolling most often manifests - racist and misogynistic, hostile and regressive attitudes.
According to one report, a third of internet users have been subject to online abuse; attacks most frequently made on a person's appearance, their beliefs, religion, race or political affiliation. Some trolls think what they do is funny, some do it out of peer pressure; about half of all trolls keep their attacks a secret. So clearly security that anonymity provides is a big part of the trolling phenomenon.
There is no accountability for the troll. The troll is not responsible to anyone. As such the troll is free to express their opinions shorn of all politeness, without filters of any sort. It is women with opinions, successful women and women who dare to challenge status quo that come in for the worst abuse; often based solely on gender.
Breathtakingly offensive and regressive posts and comments are dismissed as funny, violence of words ignored as innocuous. We ignore or connive at behavior that amounts to trolling. Either we don’t want to get involved or don’t want to be at the receiving end of the abuse. Shouldn’t we do more to reclaim the internet from the viciousness of the trolls? Sunny Leone will ignore the trolls right now, but what about when her innocent little girl is old enough to read?
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