Lifestyle influencer Aidaah Sheikh has urged social media users and public figures to challenge online harassment, body-shaming and abusive comments.
Lifestyle influencer Aidaah Sheikh has spoken out against online harassment and body-shaming, urging public figures to take action against social media trolls rather than allowing abusive behaviour to become normalised.
In a video shared on Instagram, Sheikh addressed what she described as a growing culture of online hate and referred to people who use microphones and social media platforms to target others as “cyber-bully casters” rather than podcasters.
Sheikh acknowledged that social media users are entitled to their opinions but said freedom of expression should come with responsibility. She argued that criticism crosses a line when it becomes harassment or deliberately targets another person’s appearance.
Using body-shaming as an example, Sheikh said comments about a person’s weight cannot simply be dismissed as an opinion when they are intended to humiliate or attack someone. She stressed that people should be able to express their views without resorting to personal insults or abusive remarks.
The influencer also criticised what she described as a tendency among some men to make unsolicited comments about women’s appearances. She referred to remarks attributed to businessman Avinash Singh Rathore about Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif’s appearance after pregnancy.
Sheikh questioned how people who make personal remarks about celebrities can claim credibility simply because they have access to a microphone or a social media platform. She also suggested that hostility directed at others can sometimes reflect the insecurities of the people making such comments.
According to Sheikh, people who are content with themselves have little reason to spend their time spreading hatred toward others. She encouraged social media users to show basic human decency and avoid unnecessary personal attacks.
Sheikh concluded by calling on public figures, regardless of the size of their following, to block and report accounts that engage in harassment. She said taking such action could help prevent abusive behaviour from being treated as acceptable online.
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