MUMBAI: This year, many Bollywood actors including Sonakshi Sinha, Saqib Saleem and Sayani Gupta, have logged out of social media. Most of them state that social media platforms, which started as channels to connect stars with fans, have now become breeding places of negativity and toxicity.
With Sushant Singh Rajput's death re-igniting debate around nepotism in Bollywood, some celebrities became a target for trolls and haters.
Stars like Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ananya Panday, dealt with it by limiting comments, while others like filmmaker Karan Johar refrained from posting on social media for a while, and some just left the social media world, looking for positivity in real life.
Here are some of the stars who deactivated their accounts amid what they say is growing toxicity and trolling.
SONAKSHI SINHA
On June 20, Sonakshi quit Twitter, saying: "The first step to protecting your sanity is to stay away from negativity. And nowhere more of that than Twitter these days. Chalo I'm off-- deactivating my account. Bye guys, peace out. Aag lage basti mein... mein apni masti mein! Bye Twitter."
At the time of quitting, Sonakshi had 15.9 million followers on Twitter. She often interacted directly with her fans through #SonaSays sessions.
The actress is still active on Instagram, and leading an initiative to end cyber bullying on social media.
* SAQIB SALEEM
Saqib also announced his decision to "break up" with Twitter on June 20.
"Hey Twitter, when we met for the first time, you were a lovely. A great platform to express feelings, gather knowledge and understand many different points of view. But, of late you seem to have gotten lost in all the hate everyone is so ready to throw at each other, a place of bullies, a place where abusing people is a normal code of conduct," he posted.
"These last few days have forced me to realise that I don't need this kind of energy in my life, where I wake up to hatred, where kindness is lost. It has made me realise that I need to surround myself with people, things, content and vibes that reflect who I want to be and how I want to feel; energies are contagious," he added, and shared that he "will stay connected through other platforms, but for now, Twitter and I are done".
* SAYANI GUPTA
The actress is among the latest Bollywood celebrities to go on "detox" from social media. "Going on detox mode! See you on the other side.. Be well tweeps," she wrote on Twitter on August 25.
* SHASHANK KHAITAN
In June, the "Dhadak" director also quit Twitter. "Done with twitter... just a breeding ground for hate and negativity... very sad that a platform so powerful, could not be used to create a better world... praying for peace and love always... deactivating my account now ... @Twitterindia," he tweeted minutes before he quit Twitter.
* MILAP ZAVERI
The filmmaker quit Twitter, calling it a toxic place full of trolls and negativity.
"When I joined Twitter it was a great place to express one's views, thoughts, musings. To connect with people. To appreciate others. To be updated with the latest news. But off late it's become an extremely toxic place full of trolls and negativity. But I'm a very positive person! Hence today I bid it adieu," he wrote in a note, posted on his Instagram account on August 17.
* ZAHEER IQBAL
The actor, who was launched by Salman Khan in romantic film "Notebook", took a break from Twitter this year. He shared his decision by sharing a screenshot of his last tweet which read: "Goodbye Twitter".
* AAYUSH SHARMA
Salman Khan's brother-in-law bid adieu to Twitter in June. He shared a screenshot of his last tweet on Instagram.
"280 Characters are less to define a human being. But 280 are more than enough to spread fake news, hatred and negativity. Didn't sign up for the nasty herd mentality, Khuda hafiz," Aayush wrote. At the time of deleting, he had 123.7K followers on Twitter.
* SOORAJ PANCHOLI
Earlier this month, actor Sooraj Pancholi quit Instagram and deleted almost all of his posts. He took to Instagram Stories and wrote that he will hopefully "see" Instagram when the "world is a better place", adding that he needed to breathe.
Before deleting, Sooraj had denounced reports claiming his connection with Disha Salian, and said: "Please stop brainwashing people and PLEASE stop harassing me and dragging me into this! Start being responsible of your actions as it can ruin someone's life!"
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