Pope Francis Wants You To Abstain From Trolling Online For Lent

During Lent, Catholics are generally told to give up on something such as sweets. Pope Francis wants the faithful to do something different this time. He wants them to stop insulting people on social media.

The pope made an appeal to thousands of people while speaking at St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the 40-day period of Lent.

“[Lent] is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumors, tittle-tattle and speak to God on a first name basis. We live in an atmosphere polluted by too much verbal violence, too many offensive and harmful words, which are amplified by the internet. Today, people insult each other as if they were saying Good Day,” he appealed at the gathering.

The appeal is significant because it addresses the issue of cyberbullying and a generally negative environment online. Francis has himself faced a lot of it from ultra-conservative catholic websites and anonymous anti-pope Twitter account.

The pope himself did not have access to the television while growing up and he feels disassociating from negative environments on the internet can let the faithful associate better with god. The pope feels that the internet amplifies the negativity.

The initiative is noteworthy as online trolling has been rampant on social media platforms. Cyberbullying and trolling have increased lower-self esteem, depression and even suicidal ideation in users. Around 40 percent of social media users have personally experienced online harassment, according to the Pew research center, with young adults at most risk.

The relative anonymity of online handles lets people hide behind their online identities and the victims don’t get to know or properly confront their attacker.

The fact that the pope has raised the subject and given it such relevance lends credence to the anti-cyberbullying campaigns. Others who have previously campaigned against cyberbullying include First Lady Melania Trump, Allysa Miller, Ellen DeGeneres, Katy Perry, among others.