Aaradhya Bachchan’s Fight for Privacy: Why This Should Be A Wake-Up Call For Parents

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan has moved Delhi High Court over the circulation of misleading content related to her health and personal life. The court has reportedly issued legal notice to Google and summoned YouTube Channels like Bollywood Times, Bollywood Pakora, Bollywood Samosa for spreading false information about the 13-year-old.

Aaradhya Bachchan was born on 16th November 2011 into one of the most prominent families in the Indian film industry - The Bachchans. Despite being a global icon herself, her mom, Aishwarya, has been very committed to safeguarding her privacy.

In 2023, a Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, proposing that spreading fake news or misleading information should be punishable with up to 3 years of imprisonment.

Section 195(1)d reads, that anyone who "makes or publishes false or misleading information jeopardising the sovereignty, unity and integrity or security of India, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both."

The Court has directed Google to provide the details of those who have uploaded the defamatory videos and remove any such video if posted in future. The Central Government was also urged to block such content. 

The plaintiffs have highlighted that several videos containing false claims about Aaradhya’s health and private life were uploaded, violating the child's privacy and tarnishing the Bachchan family’s image—merely to attract views and gain popularity.

Also read:

7 Tips to Keep Your Child Safe Online

7 Tips to Protect Your Child's Online Identity

How To Help Your Child Identify & Report Abuse

How To Identify Potential Signs Of Sexual Abuse In Your Child?

How Fake News And Misinformation Affects Children?

We are living in a digital era, where it hardly takes a couple of minutes for a news article to become sensational, however, everything that you read or see online is not true. Imagine waking up one day and seeing false information related to your personal life being made public. It can be really disturbing, right? For children, it can be worse. 

It can negatively impact their overall well-being 

It can lower their self-esteem. 

It may make them a subject to bullying or harassment 

It may lead to fear of rejection, loneliness, and isolation

It can lead to stereotyping and labeling 

It can affect their education and other aspects of their lives

Hence, it is important that you educate your children about media literacy and how to identify fake news. Open communication also plays a key role and gives your child a sense of security because they know they can talk to you about any such situation. Apart from this, you can also monitor your child’s online activity and utilise parental controls available on various social media apps. 

We would love to know your views on this in the comments.