Sometimes, the internet truly forgets where to draw the line. Over the weekend, a short clip of Jasprit Bumrah and Sanjana Ganesan’s 1.5-year-old son, Angad, went viral during an IPL match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Wankhede Stadium.
But instead of celebrating the family moment, some users took to social media to mock the toddler’s facial expression — yes, a toddler’s expression.
Angad, who was present at the stadium to cheer for his father along with his mother Sanjana, became a target of online trolls. All this because he didn’t show any facial reaction after Bumrah picked up a stunning four-wicket haul. A three-second clip was all it took for the internet to come to bizarre conclusions, with some even using terms like “depression” and “trauma” to describe a baby’s neutral face.
And that’s where Sanjana Ganesan drew the line — firmly and rightly.
In a strongly worded Instagram post, she called out the trolls and reminded everyone of something very basic — Angad is a baby, not content.
“Our son is NOT a topic for your entertainment. Jasprit and I do everything in our power to keep Angad away from social media because the internet is a despicable, vile place to be and I completely understand the implications of bringing a child to a cricket stadium filled with cameras, but please understand that Angad and I were there to support Jasprit and nothing else.”
This is a mother fiercely standing up for her child, and frankly, she shouldn’t have had to. What’s disturbing is the growing habit of people projecting assumptions, opinions, and diagnoses on strangers — especially children — based on a few seconds of video.
“We have no interest in our son being viral Internet content or national news, with unnecessarily opinionated keyboard warriors deciding who Angad is, what his problem is, what his personality is, from 3 seconds of footage. He is one and a half years old.”
What’s even worse is that people casually threw around sensitive terms related to mental health — and directed them toward a baby. That’s not just unkind, it’s deeply irresponsible.
On her Instagram Stories, Sanjana wrote:
“Throwing around words like trauma and depression in reference to a baby says so much about who we’re becoming as a community and it’s honestly really sad. You know nothing about our son, nothing about our lives and I request you to keep your opinions online true to that. A little honesty and a little kindness goes a long way in today’s world.”
She’s absolutely right. This incident reflects a bigger issue — the internet’s obsession with creating narratives out of nothing, and the lack of empathy in doing so. A baby not smiling in a viral video doesn’t need your analysis. He needs space, love, and the right to just be a child.
Let’s remember that the internet can be a powerful space, but also a harmful one when people forget the value of kindness. It’s high time we choose empathy over engagement.