Stating that the anger against star kids is misdirected, actor Sonakshi Sinha — who’s spearheading the anti cyber bullying initiative AbBas — asserts that just because actors aren’t being vocal about it doesn’t mean they don’t want justice for late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Having stayed away from Twitter for almost two months, Sonakshi Sinha admits her life has “changed for the better” and she has “no plans of coming back on the platform anytime soon”. In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor talks about what made her quit the social media platform, the raging nepotism and insider vs outsider debate, attacks on star kids’ and their films, mental health concerns, and spearheading AbBas, an initiative against social media bullying.
How have the last two months been — did you miss the buzz or enjoyed staying away from all the toxicity?
More than the buzz, it was a buzz kill. Twitter has become such a playing ground for negativity with people going on and on about anything and everything and in such a gutsy manner. It’s not something I’d want in my life, anyway. Also, we spend more time on the internet than in real, so I think they should really be cleaned up, and which is why I got off it. My life has changed for the better, it’s much cleaner, so I have no complaints. And I’ve also put my comments off on Instagram.
But is quitting a social media or restricting comments, a long term solution to keep trolls at bay?
Social media, for me, has always been a way to connect with my fans. And I’ve always put out the things that I want to share with the world. But there’s so much of uninvited negativity. I’m really okay without that. However, I feel sad because so many of my fans have been cut off, there’s no interaction anymore with them, but I’ve to safeguard myself, too. Today, I’d want to tell young people, all young boys and girl, who’re impressionable, that your life is not successful because of the number of likes, followers and the validation that you get on the internet.
Are you planning to come back anytime soon?
No. I’m actually happier because I have one less social media account to manage (laughs).
In between, you came up with this anti cyber bullying initiative — AbBas. What was the trigger?
You see people have been at home for five months now, and there’s a lot of frustration that’s coming out on the internet. So, it seems like a very gradual buildup of hatred and negativity online. That’s really what kind of drove me to do this. I firmly believe that if something can’t be said to someone’s face — because there’ll consequences — people need to know there are consequences even if you say it online. So, I wanted to make people aware that if there’s someone treating you in a certain way online, action can be taken against them, and you can safeguard and protect yourself. For the longest time, even I’ve been ignoring or blocking such people, but it’s time, as it’s really getting out of hands. Forget being an actor, nobody should be subjected to that kind of behaviour or threats at all.
