August 22, 2020: Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt on Friday said she has made her Instagram account private after receiving death and rape threats on social media.          

She took to Instagram and announced the same.

The actress shared a long post about getting death threats for herself and her family in recent times.

Taking to her Instagram account, Pooja shared a photo with Steve Maraboli’s quote that read, “I don’t have the time, energy or interest in hating the haters; I am too busy loving the lovers.” With this, Pooja shared how over the past few times, she has been receiving death threats on Instagram from anonymous trolls. She further questioned that what would one call such comments that wish death on one’s family and them. She wrote, “But is someone wishing you and your family death, constructive criticism or just an attempt at vile cyber bullying?”

She mentioned that she was advised to turn off her comments instead of making her account private.

But she chose not to as she did not want to block out those people who send her love and positivity. She confirmed that she is turning her Instagram account private and wrote, “But what I have done now is make my account private. You want access to my world? Make a request. You want to converse with me,cut out the abuse.” Further, addressing the death threats, Pooja wrote, “As for wishing me death,the same God and Universe that watches over you,watches over me as well. I will pass when life decides for me. And as long as life keeps me breathing I will live to the optimum and revel in the now. We seem to have become a pathetic lot.. spewing abuse,inciting violence,following agendas of manufactured hate like sheep. We are still in the middle of a pandemic. People are dying in huge numbers every day... due to Covid,hunger,depression & unemployment. But those lives lost don’t seem to concern the haters. Their hate is what consumes them instead. But yet, I wish them well.” She wished that time would heal such people as she turned her account private.

Alia Bhatt and Shaheen Bhatt liked Pooja’s post as she turned her account private. Recently, on Twitter too, she raised the issue that Instagram only suggests that one blocks the haters and trollers but said that Twitter had better guidelines for online safety.