A 16-year-old queer artist from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain died by suicide following thousands of hate comments on an Instagram reel the artist posted, claimed an actor.
Pranshu, a 16-year-old queer artist from Ujjain, was a self-taught makeup artist from Ujjain and ran an Instagram handle where they posted makeup and beauty content. On Diwali, The 16-year-old posted an Instagram transition reel in a saree.
‘Made In Heaven’ web series actor Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju claimed the artist’s comment section was flooded with over 4,000 homophobic remarks which abetted them to die by suicide. The artist had over 16,500 followers on their Instagram handle, ‘glamitupwithpranshu’.
Actor Trinetra said online platforms like Instagram, which is owned by Meta, have repeatedly failed to provide a safe space to people from the LGBTQ community and claimed that #JusticeForPranshu “has no posts because some violate community guidelines”.
Several members from the LGBTQ community expressed their grief and called out platforms like Instagram, X, and Facebook as inadequate to tackle cyberbullying.
The Nagjhiri police station in-charge, KS Gehlot, said the exact reason behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained and an investigation is on in the matter, the Free Press Journal reported.
Arthur Bejar, a former Meta executive who quit the organisation in 2021, claimed that Instagram is “fundamentally misleading” the public about the safety of its platform for teens. Mr Bejar testified to US Senators earlier this month and said Instagram is “categorically not” appropriate for children as young as 13.
“I had first-hand experience of them ignoring what can be described as statistically significant research,” which suggested millions of teenagers were experiencing safety issues while using Meta’s apps, he said.