The Human Cost Of Going Viral

May 16, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

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Hello,

One day, you are a viral sensation selling parathas in Bengal. The next day, you are being hunted on a local train because of a digital footprint you didn't know you left. While policymakers debate whether children should ‘log out’ for their own safety, the digital ecosystem is already reshaping our reality—from the identity crises of 15-year-olds to AI-generated images of tragedy designed to grab ‘likes’ from grief. Read on!

LEARN FROM BOOM

What Does a Child-Safe Internet Look Like? Join BOOM's Stakeholder Consultation

India’s debate on children’s online safety is often framed as a simple question: should social media for minors be banned? A recent roundtable organised by BOOM and Decode called 'Should We Log Out Our Children?', bringing together teenagers, digital rights activists, mental health professionals, lawyers, educators, researchers and technologists, revealed a far more nuanced reality. 

Across discussions, one idea emerged repeatedly: the problem is not merely children using social media, but the systems designed to maximise engagement, extract data, and profit from children’s attention without sufficient accountability.

The Psychological Impact 

Teen participants themselves described the psychological and emotional impact of algorithm-driven platforms. Keisha, a 15-year-old social media user and Teen Ambassador of BOOM’s Teen Fact-Checking Network India, reflected on how “constant hyperconnectivity” to trends and updates had “stifled” her creativity and led to what she called a “pre-life crisis” — a sense of confusion about identity at a very young age. Others described recommendation systems as “loops” that continuously push users toward increasingly addictive or extreme content.

Equity and Access 

The discussion also foregrounded inequalities in digital access. Uma Subramanian, co-founder of the RATI Foundation, cautioned that asking children to simply “log out” is a privileged position in a country where millions still share devices and internet access is unevenly distributed across gender and class lines. In many households, girls receive less access to devices and data than boys. This raised concerns that poorly designed regulations could deepen existing inequalities rather than improve safety. 

Another recurring concern was the rapid rise of AI chatbots and generative AI tools. Participants noted that AI systems can amplify misinformation, encourage emotional dependency, collect sensitive data and operate without adequate safeguards for minors. Several speakers stressed that public understanding of AI has not kept pace with its adoption. 

The next phase of this consultation seeks public input through a survey exploring how platforms, policymakers, schools, parents and civil society can collectively build a safer internet for young people in India. Share your actionable suggestions for the government and Big Tech by filling this Google Form. 

DECODE

Viral Then Hunted: How Bengal's Digital Mob Came For The Pocket Paratha Man

A month ago, Raju Ghosh was one of Bengal's most recognisable faces. Raju Da Pocket Paratha became popular for a plate of food: three parathas, unlimited torkari of seasonal vegetables and potatoes, a boiled egg, and his trademark apple-shaped onion— all for thirty-five rupees outside Sealdah railway station. He had become an internet sensation. 

Food vloggers crowded him for content. Reels racked up views in lakhs. 

Then the Assembly election results came on May 4. The BJP swept Bengal with 207 seats. And within 24 hours, the internet had begun its accounting. 

West Bengal is not new to post-poll violence.

But what followed the May 4 result has a different character. A shared phone number. A home address pulled from Google Street View. A morphed photograph. A rape threat filmed and delivered directly to its target. 

The crowd did not need to organise, it needed an address and the Internet to perpetrate virtual violence in a mob-like culture. 

Ghosh was beaten on the Ashoknagar-Sealdah local train on May 5, he says, by men who wanted him to chant Jai Shri Ram. He had tried covering his face with a mask while travelling, anticipating trouble. It didn't help. Swasti Chatterjee reports.

An AI Image Of A Mother-Son Turned The Jabalpur Tragedy To Content

When a tourist boat capsized at Bargi Dam in Jabalpur last month, at least thirteen people died. Among the details that emerged in the chaos: a mother and her young son, found together in a single life jacket. 

The image was AI-generated. No one seems to have claimed otherwise. 

But What Happens When Tragedy Becomes Content?

In moments where on-ground visuals are limited, AI is increasingly used to fill the gap, shaping how an event is seen, said Aarushi Gupta of the Digital Futures Lab. Such visuals, she explained, construct a narrative that directs attention and emotion. “It is the rise of synthetic grief, where emotion itself is generated, packaged, and amplified within platform economies that reward virality over reality,” Gupta told Hera Rizwan. 

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍  A video purportedly showing West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will only work for Hindus and eradicate the 27 per cent Muslim population from the state after an election victory is fake and AI-generated, 🔗 Srijit Das ↗️ found.

🔍  A video from Nashik, Maharashtra, was shared with a false communal claim that it shows a Muslim woman being dragged out of her house and assaulted in Kolkata after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in West Bengal. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

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