What exactly is cyberbullying?
Dictionary.com helpfully defines bullying as ‘seeking to harm, intimidate, or coerce’. Compared to ‘traditional’ bullying, cyberbullying is carried out online or digitally, often anonymously.
Unfortunately, cyberbullying appears to be on the rise – the NSPCC published data showing Child-line had held 5,103 sessions in 2016/17 regarding cyberbullying, a 12% rise when compared to the year before. This trend is expected to continue, with social media becoming increasingly intertwined with the physical world. Statistics published by the University of Warwick support this, demonstrating that while pure cyberbullying is rare, it occurs with tradtional bullying a staggering 85.2% of the time, painting a much more sinister picture than one might initially anticipate.
Cyberbullying – dangerous?
Some people believe cyberbullying isn’t as serious as traditional bullying, with posts mocking victims being rampant across various social media platforms, notably Twitter.
This is simply not true, research shows that over 90% of cyberbullying victims report being negatively affected. These posts are sometimes made by high-profile individuals, often receiving hundreds of thousands of likes, which can lead to victims feeling isolated and placing blame on themselves. Research has shown that victims of cyberbullying are at a greater risk of both self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
What is the legal stance on bullying?
If you have been a victim of cyberbullying, you may have thought there’s not much that can be done – but you’d be wrong! A joint ‘Online Harms’ white paper from the Home Office published in April 2019 set out ‘duty of care’ guidelines for social media companies to follow to reduce the incidence of cyberbullying, including:
- Social media companies providing a clear pathway for reporting cyberbullying
- Social media companies should have processes and resources to manage these report
- Social media companies should clearly display information to the general public regarding the steps they take to reduce the incidence of cyberbullying.
Although there is no specific law criminalising bullying whether it is offline or online, it can be dealt with under other criminal and civil laws including:
- The Malicious Communications Act 1988 (criminal offence if the bullying is causing ‘alarm or distress’
- Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (criminal offence if the bullying is ‘grossly offensive’)
- The Communications Act 2003 (if found guilty of an offence under section 127 of TCA 2003, a person can receive a up to 6 months in prison, a fine or both)
- The Public Order Act 1986
- The Education and Inspections Act 2006 (EIA 2006) – Provides for staff and teachers to confiscate items from pupils, such as mobile phones.
If the police have enough evidence to charge someone under any of the above legislation and they are convicted – this can then act as a powerful deterrent to others.
There are also clear guidelines in place from The Crown prosecution service detailing how to proceed with prosecuting cases involving social media.
For example in 2014, in the case of Johnson v Steele, Mr Johnson was awarded £70,000 in damages after he was the victim of a cyberbullying attack on blogs and Twitter.
What does all of this mean for somebody who’s being cyberbullied? Firstly, that there should be clear ways to report this behaviour to the social media provider in question, and secondly that there can and has been legal action taken against those who use social media and the internet to bully and harass.
What should I do if I’m being cyberbullied?
Firstly, as outlined above, you should be able to report the posts or comments in question. For example, on Twitter you should be able to tap the post, select ‘report tweet’ and then give the appropriate details. This often results in the user’s posts being deleted, and the user may even be suspended. Secondly, you should block and/or delete the user, which will prevent them from being able to further contact you. As an extra measure you should also delete the user on any other social media platforms you may have them on (for example, Facebook).
Should cyberbullying be via email, Internet Service Providers often have contact addresses for reporting abuse, such as ‘abuse@hotmail.com’, depending on the service used.
Finally, should the messages be threatening in nature or make you feel unsafe, you can fight it with the law; contact the authorities who can trace the origin of the messages and take the appropriate steps to ensure you are not in danger.
A light at the end of the tunnel
Thankfully there appears to be a shift in the attitude towards cyberbullying, with latest figures showing a 75% overall awareness of cyberbullying globally, with Italy and Sweden leading at 91%. Efforts such as Stop Cyberbullying Day by The Cybersmile Foundation have also received widespread coverage and the involvement of prominent brands and influencers such as Rimmel and Twitter.
Many celebrities including the like of Zayn Malik have opened up about their own experiences with cyberbullying – the artist has previously noted “Nasty things [were said] like I’m a terrorist”, and went into depth about how he was affected when other members of his family were also targeted. This helps to destigmatize cyberbullying and allows victims who may otherwise feel isolated to relate to prominent figures in society.
It is refreshing to see that over the past decade cyberbullying has started to be recognised as a legitimate form of harmful behaviour, and that over recent years this recognition is gradually turning into a substantial movement that includes lawmakers, authorities and social media companies. In order to continue this momentum guidelines should be introduced with laws aimed specifically at prosecution of cyberbullies, giving victims the support they deserve and making the internet as a whole a safer place.
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Mona's Corner 