addiction Archives - Akancha Srivastava Foundation

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

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ABOUT ‘AKANCHA SRIVASTAVA FOUNDATION’

The Akancha Srivastava Foundation is India’s leading social impact initiative dedicated to advancing cyber safety awareness and education. Established in February 2017, this not-for-profit Section 8 organization is a trusted voice in promoting safe online practices across the nation.

Distinguished Board of Advisors
Guided by an honorary advisory board of esteemed leaders:

Former Special DGP RK Vij (Chhattisgarh Police)
ADG Navniet Sekera (Uttar Pradesh Police)
ADG Krishna Prakash (Maharashtra Police)
Dr. Poonam Verma (Principal, SSCBS, Delhi University)

Our Mission

The Foundation is committed to educating, empowering, and building bridges between the public and authorities on critical cyber safety issues. Additionally, we specialize in forensics training for law enforcement, equipping them with the skills needed to tackle cybercrime effectively.

The post Should Kids Have Phones Before 14? Let’s Talk. #ASF appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

VIDEO GAMES SAFE FOR KIDS? #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:30:55 +0000

VIDEO GAMES SAFE FOR KIDS? #AAH

I have said it earlier and I am saying it again that playing online games is not bad in itself. In fact it teaches team play, strategic thinking, quick decision making and leadership.

However discernment in how much time child is pending playing these games and what kind of information they are sharing with strangers/ other players is what decides if it’s a healthy habit or addiction/ unsafe. Its like a piece of cake once in a while when you have a healthy lifestyle, you are walking, running playing sports is fine but if you have a full size cake every single day you will have diabetes!

First- money and online games. Recently there was an incident where a scammer under false identity connected to a child via an online game and promised to upgrade his game level, also give him more armor/ weapons (lots of games where you need them to defeat your enemy), give them new skin/ clothes.

These scammers monitor how much time the child is spending on the game so that they know how likely he/she is to fall into the trap. Once the child is convinced, they tell the kid that we are sending a link which they need to click may be to agree to terms and you will receive the upgrade.

Child is curious and they immediately click on the link. We all know things that can happen with that single click! Your system can be compromised, all information can be hacked, data on that machine can be stolen. In this particular incident that child’s family pictures and some sensitive data was stolen. Then he was threatened that his parents morphed nude pictures would be circulated online, sensitive information will be disclosed, they will be shamed. Child got scared and even transferred some money via the transactions as strictly monitored by these criminals! Yes, its pretty much possible once they had control of the system.

VIDEOAdditionally, this could also be life threatening. Child predators/ groomers are lurking online to prey on children, their ID could show they are 14 years but they could be pedophiles who could slowly lure the child into meeting them alone at some point with the sole intention of assaulting them. They could also talk the child into sharing information about home, family members, where the valuables are kept for burglary.

Teach these safety measures to your child- all habits in moderation especially consuming online content or playing games. Not to share information with strangers online and even lie when necessary, like oh my mom is always around, I have too many people at home always, I am never alone!

Build a relationship of trust with children. Curious, intelligent children make mistakes. Give them the confidence that they can talk to you. Spend inclusive online time with them to know their interests, friends, games. Do combined activities outdoors. You got this!

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Website: www.AkanchaSrivastava.Org

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA SRIVASTAVA FOUNDATION’

‘Akancha Srivastava Foundation’ leads India’s largest social impact initiative for cyber safety. It was founded in February 2017. It’s a not-for-profit Section 8 organization.

Honorary Board of Advisors

Foundation’s advisory board hosts – Former Special DGP RK Vij (Chattisgarh), ADG Navniet Sekera (Uttar Pradesh), ADG Krishna Prakash (Maharashtra), Dr Poonam Verma (Principal- SSCBS, Delhi University)

Mission of the Foundation

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities on matters of cyber safety. Foundation also conducts forensics training for law enforcement.

The post VIDEO GAMES SAFE FOR KIDS? #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Twitter Safety Tips #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Sun, 30 Jul 2023 04:10:00 +0000

Twitter Safety Tips #AAH

Twitter has launched Twitter Blue which is a paid subscription which is the only way to get a 2FA on text for logins. But don’t worry, there are many other ways to keep your Twitter account safe.

1- Please keep complex passwords and change them regularly
2- You can secure your account with 2FA through popular security authentication apps such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, Last Pass, and many more without paying any money.

3- Enable Password Reset Protection on Twitter

The password reset protection feature adds an extra security layer to your Twitter account, as it requires additional information to reset your Twitter password. Consequently, you will be asked for your phone number or associated email address to reset the account password, making it safe from unauthorised access.

4- Control Connected Apps and Twitter Sessions- If you frequently use your Twitter account to sign into various third-party apps or access the same on different browsers, your account becomes more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and phishing. Fortunately, Twitter provides the option to review the connected apps and past/active sessions through the in-app options.

5- Manage Connected Accounts to Prevent Compromises- Linking your Twitter account to various social platforms can sometimes be the reason behind an account hijack. Therefore, you must ensure to unlink your account from untrusted or unreliable social platforms to secure it

6 – Secure your Account by Limiting Direct Messages

Another nifty method to secure your Twitter account is to limit the direct message requests. This way, the people whom you don’t follow on Twitter won’t be able to send you any direct messages. Sometimes people can be obnoxious, send unpleasant messages and you can just avoid this stress.

7- Control Account Discoverability and Prevent Contact Sync

If you don’t want to announce your presence on Twitter to the existing contacts saved on your phone, you can turn off your email address/phone discovery using the in-app options. In addition, you can even disable or remove your synced contacts from the Twitter server to limit your account’s discoverability.

8- Twitter enables you to include your location on individual tweets and your profile. As a safety practice, you must avoid sharing information that could identify your home or office address, or where your children go to school.

Additional Security Tips to Secure your Twitter Account

In addition to the above methods for securing your Twitter account after Twitter 2FA ended, you should follow these additional security tips to stay safe on the platform.

Control Photo Tagging to Avoid getting Tagged in Random Tweets. To minimize sharing your name to the public, you can disable a feature that allows anyone to tag you in a photo or limit tagging by only those you follow.

Turn Off Personalized Advertisements

Some tips for mental health- you can absolutely unfollow, block, remove followers, report tweets, mute words and people as it works for you. Remember you have to protect yourself first and you have the right to do what it takes to maintain sanity.

PS- We have also included relevant content from articles/posts available on the subject, online.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

‘Akancha Against Harassment’ is India’s largest social impact initiative against cyber harassment. It was founded by Miss Akancha Srivastava in February 2017. It’s a not-for-profit Section 8 organization.

Honorary Board of advisors

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

We run India’s only private national multilingual AI chat helpline for cyber safety. This helpline is currently available in Hindi & English on our website. It can be accessed from any internet enabled device. You can chat here anonymously, fearlessly.

The post Twitter Safety Tips #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Beware Of Cyber Stalkers #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 04:00:32 +0000

Beware Of Cyber Stalkers #AAH

Cyber stalking can be a very scary experience as we can’t physically see the person following us. We are unaware of the kind of people who are consuming the information about us on the internet & how they are going to use it. Cyber stalking often becomes obvious only after some incident already takes place. Therefore, it’s important to be beware of cyber stalkers.

Firstly, all information that any stranger (or known person) knows about us on the internet is often shared by us ourselves. We overshare details like pattern of our life, locations, places we travel, whom we meet, restaurants we visit, our address, our friend circle and more. This makes us easy target for cyber stalkers. We need to be sensible about what information we are sharing online so that we are beware of cyber stalkers.

Secondly, we need to make sure that we use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) where possible. VPN redirects our access points to other locations thereby concealing real locations from where we are logging. This is an important step in being beware of cyber stalking.

Thirdly, in a majority of cases, stalkers are known to the victim. They could even be ex-lovers, partners, colleagues, neighbors etc. When you go through any relationship break/divorce, please change all your passwords. This includes social media, emails as well as banking details. Inform your trusted circle of the development.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe!

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

‘Akancha Against Harassment’ is India’s largest social impact initiative against cyber harassment. It was founded by Miss Akancha Srivastava in February 2017. Its a not-for-profit Section 8 organization.

Honorary Board of advisors

Foundation’s advisory board hosts – Former Special DGP RK Vij (Chattisgarh), ADG Navniet Sekera (Uttar Pradesh), Special IG Krishna Prakash (Maharashtra), Dr Poonam Verma (Principal- SSCBS, Delhi University)

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

The post Beware Of Cyber Stalkers #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Online Comparison Is Your Enemy! #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 04:20:47 +0000

Online Comparison Is Your Enemy! #AAH

Have you seen those posts where people share stuff like- 10 things I learned in last 20 years or 10 points of my success. And we think wow this was so simple what’s the big deal? Why did this person become so successful just cos of these 10 points. What we are conveniently forgetting is that they may have followed that discipline for 10/20 years!

People are constantly posting photos of themselves online doing amazing things with amazing people. Whether they choose Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or all of the above, many of these individuals have become social media stars. For those of us with relatively ordinary lives, it’s easy to feel like we fall short in comparison.

It’s almost an automatic reflex to compare ourselves to those people online who we think are living more exciting lives than we are. We see them doing these seemingly fabulous activities and going to these seemingly fantastic places and we think, “Why am I not doing that? Why can’t I have that lifestyle?”

The people posting their photos online look great all the time. They never have a bad hair day or a wardrobe malfunction. Their clothes and makeup are always perfect; their activities seem incredibly fun and exciting; they’re surrounded by beautiful, fascinating-looking people. We regular folk feel inadequate in comparison.

But should we be comparing ourselves to the pictures we see online? For many of us, it’s almost impossible not to do so. But when we do compare ourselves, we feel like we could never measure up.

It’s demoralizing, as we’re convinced that we’ll never be as attractive, as well-dressed or as popular as these people appear to be. We’re certain that we’ll never be at the right place at the right time, like these internet stars always are.

But there’s something we need to remember about online images. Their only purpose is to present their subject in the best possible light. These people are posting deliberately manipulated images in order to show us a version of themselves that’s at best, highly exaggerated and at worst, utterly artificial.

Reference- https://marciasirotamd.com/psychology-popular-culture/need-stop-comparing-others-online

The truth is that many of the people who post these perfect lifestyle and beauty shots online aren’t living their best lives or being their best selves. Most of them are carefully curating the images they present, and some are manufacturing artificial scenarios in the same way as an art director for film, TV or advertising creates an imaginary world.

Film and TV directors create images in order to tell us stories; advertisers manipulate or distort images to sell us products, and people on social media post their carefully chosen images in order to make the best possible impression.

What’s the underlying motivation for this last group? Maybe it’s the ego boost that’s supposed to come with the illusion of fame; maybe it’s the hope of getting their sites monetized; maybe it’s insecurity and an excessive need for admiration – even if this admiration is based on an illusion.

The social media pictures we see every day are so convincing that they seem authentic. We tend to believe the hype and it’s sad because we’re judging ourselves as inadequate while comparing ourselves to images that aren’t real.

Social media is a rigged game.

The internet lends itself to liars. Whether political lobbyists, advertisers or cat-fishers, too many people online are nothing like what they’re presenting. Some aren’t even people, they’re bots! The take-away message should be that just because we think something seems real online, it doesn’t mean that it is.

Comparing ourselves to others is always problematic. We habitually compare ourselves to those who appear to be better than we are and then we feel bad about ourselves. We rarely compare ourselves to those who appear to have less than we do.

We need to stop comparing ourselves to others in general, because the nature of such comparisons is to always make us feel “less than,” and this leads to unhappiness. We need to accept ourselves just as we are, right now.

We shouldn’t be trying to live up to the illusory standards of perfection we see online. We don’t need to be perfect to be happy. Happiness comes from living our best lives – not a replication of someone else’s life; it comes from being the best version of ourselves – not a carbon copy of someone else.

Choosing not to compare ourselves to others doesn’t mean that we should be complacent. It’s appropriate to be always learning, growing and changing, but we’ll be more motivated to change when we already feel good about ourselves.

Self-acceptance is more conducive to self-improvement than self-criticism is. With a positive attitude about ourselves rather than a judgmental one, we’re empowered to become the best versions of ourselves that we can be.

What we shouldn’t ever do is beat ourselves up for failing to meet these false standards of perfection. Perfection is impossible and unnecessary, and the truth is that no-one who posts their pictures on social media is anywhere close to perfect.

Reality Check:

Unplug for a designated amount of time.
Set time limits on your phone for social media sites.
Suspend your social media accounts for a specific amount of time.
Challenge a friend to unplug with you and be each other’s support.
Keep your phone out of arm’s reach when possible.
Turn notifications off on your social media accounts.
Stop using your phone in bed.
Try the 50/50 rule: No social media the last/first 50 minutes of your day.
Get professional help if necessary.

Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Social Media Use:

What need does my use of social media meet?
Do I catch myself comparing myself to what I see on social media?
How does my time on social media make me feel about myself?
How does my time on social media make me feel about my life, family, and friends?
Have I trained my brain to question statements and pics on social media?
Does it bother me when a post I make doesn’t get many Likes or Shares?
Can I recognize when I need to take a break from social media?

There is a lot for you to like and enjoy about social media—It is so important for you to stay in touch with family, friends, and co-workers who may be spread out across the country and the world. It’s cool for you to get a “peek” into the lives of some of your favorite personalities and potentially even interact with them. You can be inspired and encouraged by stories and pictures that people have shared on social media. You can spot the positives and the negatives!

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

Honorary Board of advisors

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

The post Online Comparison Is Your Enemy! #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Fabulous Fake Lives Of Instagram! #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 04:00:44 +0000

Fabulous Fake Lives Of Instagram! #AAH

This topic is especially relevant since it’s the time of festivals, family, holidays and travel. We open any social media and there are pictures- gorgeous, perfect, shiny, glam photos of parties, people, make up, jewelry, food, yachts, flights, luxury, children, pets- oh so happy, isn’t it?!

Sometimes you begin to doubt if you are the only one having challenges in your life, it’s depressing to think that you might in fact be inadequate, not a performer, underachiever, or that you aren’t good looking like others, not married, there’s no end to these downward spiraling thoughts, where does it stop??

Please know that majority of these perfect looking lives are anything but perfect. Nobody posts their domestic unhappiness, failures or sadness. Couples biting each other’s heads off post pictures like they are soulmates, next week we know they are divorced or if you remember the case of a very successful model who posted a glamorous happy picture and found dead by suicide 24 hours later!

Social media is a carousel of perfectly fake lives. Platforms like Instagram are built to trigger our insecurities as if we are behind in some manner. Be careful. You only know what is being projected not the real struggles, challenges of real people. I know of so many entrepreneurs who are going through so much sadness, isolation but on social media- they are all about long blogs on motivation, happy parties.

It’s like a one-way mirror, you can’t see what’s not shown.

You can watch, admire, appreciate the beauty on social media but please don’t be fooled into thinking that every life is perfect except yours. Especially around festivals and holidays it can trigger a lot of sadness.

Few simple tips that can be helpful:

Restrict your time on social media- how much is too much? An hour, two?
Mute any words that trigger anxiety, if you have suffered any personal loss or have memories attached to particular times- go ahead mute the words or even such handles
Don’t forget to exercise every day, even if it’s a walk or standing up while working. We often underestimate the benefits of it.
Get some sun, even 15/20 minutes is an instant mood lifter
Keep it real. Count your blessings every single day. Write down 3 things that you are thankful for, as simple as a good cup of tea or even waking up!
Writing helps pour emotions out. Instead of reaching out to your phone or social media first thing in the morning, try thanking and thinking of things you are grateful for
Ask for help. None of us make it on our own. There’s a reason we are social beings, we are meant to live with each other. Lean on someone you trust.

You are wonderful the way you are, you are amazing, you matter! Don’t be fooled by these perfectly fake lives!

Please do watch the video for detailed safety tips.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe. Stay happy!

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

Honorary Board of advisors

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

The post Fabulous Fake Lives Of Instagram! #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Impact Of Social Media Addiction! #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 04:00:47 +0000

Impact of #SocialMedia addiction! #AAH

While we keep talking about this regularly across all our platforms, very little improvement is seen on this front, infcat we see more & more adults getting addicted to social media at an increasing pace. Children emulate behavior of adults and get addicted to different social media platforms too.

Social media addiction can have long term mental destabilising impact. It can lead to depressing, intense fear of missing out, tendency to stick to popular opinion groups thereby losing your own voice, sleep impairment as you want to scroll non stop, anxiety and much more.

Please do visit our YouTube channel to watch in detail for information on each of these topics.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe!

The post Impact Of Social Media Addiction! #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Stop Doomscrolling! #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 04:00:46 +0000

Stop Doomscrolling! #AAH

‘Doomscrolling’ is when a person scrolls through bad news on their phone, even though that news is saddening or disheartening to see. It’s the act of spending an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of negative news.

Increased consumption of predominantly negative news may result in harmful psychophysiological responses in some cases.

No social media platform is perfect. But where there has been increasing spread of misinformation and fear on social media, just like there’s a treasure of vital, lifesaving information, connection with others, and global unity. Magic lies in knowing the balance in consumption of this content.

Here are few suggestions:

You don’t need to be hooked 24×7!

Give it a break, its ok if you don’t know minute by minute gory details of accidents! You can look at news every few hours, use key words and search.

If you have to mute a few words, please do it. you should have no guilt in preserving personal sanity

Many handles or accounts only spread hatred, violence, please mute them, follow handles which report without panicking you!

Follow some topics other – Health, fitness, art, music, history- YOU CAN REVERSE DOOMSCROLLING

Block time for social media, use mindful apps to monitor your time on them like digital wellness, dedicate some time for fitness workout

Especially be careful what & how much are elderly & children also consuming at home.

Auto suggestion puts us in loop of similar news- noticed how YouTube begins to show same kind of content or Instagram reels algorithms study your habits and keep suggesting same topic? Therefore if you are addicted to negative content, you will get served more of the same.

Don’t feel guilty taking a break, preserve your sanity. Mental health should be first priority.

Please watch this video for comprehensive safety tips.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ABOUT ‘AKANCHA AGAINST HARASSMENT’

Honorary Board of advisors

Goals of this initiative

The initiative aims at Education, Empowerment & Bridging of general population with the authorities.

Support of the Indian Police for the initiative

Bridging is the most unique attribute of the initiative. We have a host of over 65+ senior police officers from across the country supporting us in content & awareness drive.

This unique strength helps us address any victim complaints that come to us as well as inform people about various measures of law enforcement across the country.

Multilingual AI Chat helpline for cyber safety

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

The post Stop Doomscrolling! #AAH appeared first on Akancha Srivastava Foundation.

Social Media Safety Tips! #AAH

Akancha Srivastava — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 04:06:40 +0000

Social Media Safety Tips! #AAH

Everyone is addicted to social media today. Checking it 100 times a day, paying attention to every single notification, desperately looking for validation from strangers, letting likes and dislikes ruin our day.

This kind of addiction is detrimental for our mental health & also a safety risk. In our need to be liked by others we end up oversharing our personal, very intimate & sensitive details. This can lead to serious crimes or even loss of life.

Please watch the video for comprehensive safety tips.

Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

CONTACT US:

Twitter: @AkanchaS

Instagram: @akanchas

Facebook:

LinkedIn: