News / National
Fungisai concerned over social media abuse
30 Jan 2019 at 02:54hrs | Views
GOSPEL musician Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave has expressed concern over what she described as "abuse" of children featured on several video clips circulating on social media platforms.
A victim of cyber-bullying, the Makomborero hitmaker told NewsDay Life &Style recently that children should be protected and urged artistes to refrain from using children in some social media works.
Zvakavapano-Mashavave was speaking following the circulation of a video clip of young girls clad in school uniform doing sexually suggestive dances as well as the magate baby video, derived from Inzo Ishall's song about a woman told by a self-proclaimed prophet that she needed several gallons of anointing water to cleanse her of a sex demon.
"I have seen children's right to privacy and other rights being violated and I think if we are going to be good stewards and opinion leaders, it has to start with us as artistes. Filming children and publicising the recordings without their parents' or guardians' consent should be condemned because the harm goes deeper than what we can see or imagine," she said.
"Social media is a wild world and it is unhealthy for any child to be exposed to it as adult entertainment, in anyway. May the adult world find more entertainment options other than children's videos. I refer to the Chisipite girls, the magate baby and crying ECD babies and many others that have been widely circulated on social media."
Zvakavapano-Mashavave said children have a right to protection from such exposure and its effects.
"Children are exposed to a lifetime of ridicule and emotional trauma. These are the things that will resurface and haunt their critical teenage days which have a bearing on their personal ultimate development," she said.
The musician said she once contemplated quitting music due to cyber-bullying. This followed photo-shopped pictures about her appearance at the
Zimdancehall awards which went viral on social media.
"My personal pictures were photo-shopped in a degrading manner. I was being attacked for being a simple girl. This cyber-bullying was my worst experience, but I left everything in God's hands. I even went for days without appropriate sleep or food," she said.
A victim of cyber-bullying, the Makomborero hitmaker told NewsDay Life &Style recently that children should be protected and urged artistes to refrain from using children in some social media works.
Zvakavapano-Mashavave was speaking following the circulation of a video clip of young girls clad in school uniform doing sexually suggestive dances as well as the magate baby video, derived from Inzo Ishall's song about a woman told by a self-proclaimed prophet that she needed several gallons of anointing water to cleanse her of a sex demon.
"I have seen children's right to privacy and other rights being violated and I think if we are going to be good stewards and opinion leaders, it has to start with us as artistes. Filming children and publicising the recordings without their parents' or guardians' consent should be condemned because the harm goes deeper than what we can see or imagine," she said.
Zvakavapano-Mashavave said children have a right to protection from such exposure and its effects.
"Children are exposed to a lifetime of ridicule and emotional trauma. These are the things that will resurface and haunt their critical teenage days which have a bearing on their personal ultimate development," she said.
The musician said she once contemplated quitting music due to cyber-bullying. This followed photo-shopped pictures about her appearance at the
Zimdancehall awards which went viral on social media.
"My personal pictures were photo-shopped in a degrading manner. I was being attacked for being a simple girl. This cyber-bullying was my worst experience, but I left everything in God's hands. I even went for days without appropriate sleep or food," she said.
Source - newsday
