My passion is basketball,” says 14-year-old Angel Shah without hesitation, “I also love arts and crafts and I love listening to music.” After every exam, she and her friends have a ritual. They head to the mall, catch a film, laugh over food, and perform a choreographed handshake they have perfected over months. It is, in many ways, exactly what one would expect from a teenager trying to make the most of growing up. And yet, growing up today comes with a burden that previous generations never carried.

This week, the country watched as a 15-year-old girl from Noida became the target of relentless online abuse after a video of her using offensive language for the Prime Minister went viral. Despite apologising, the teenager and her family reportedly received threats so severe that they had to change homes multiple times. The incident puts the spotlight on how the Internet treats children, particularly teenage girls who are increasingly viewed less as minors and more as public personalities, expected to bear the consequences of every word they utter.