Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased use of social media. Related issues include online/internet harassment and trolling. In 2015, according to cyberbullying statistics from the i-Safe Foundation, over half of adolescents and teens had been bullied online, and about the same number had engaged in cyberbullying. Both the bully and the victim are negatively affected, and the intensity, duration, and frequency of bullying are three aspects that increase the negative effects on both of them.
Tactics
Harmful bullying behavior can include posting rumors, threats, sexual remarks, a victim's personal information, or hate speech. Bullying or harassment can be identified by repeated behavior and an intent to harm. Tactics can also include creating or posting on fake profiles to create anonymity to spread harmful messages.Overview
Cyberbullying is in many cases an extension of already existing traditional bullying. Students who are bullied via the Internet have, in most cases, also been bullied in other more traditional ways before. There are few students who are bullied exclusively over the Internet; these cyber victims are often physically stronger students, which causes bullies to prefer online confrontations over face-to-face contact at school.Awareness in the United States has risen in the 2010s, due in part to high-profile cases. Several US states and other countries have passed laws to combat cyberbullying. Some are designed to specifically target teen cyberbullying, while others extend from the scope of physical harassment. In cases of adult cyberharassment, these reports are usually filed beginning with local police. The laws differ by area or state.
Research has demonstrated a number of serious consequences of cyberbullying victimisation. Specific statistics on the negative effects of cyberbullying differ by country and other demographics. Some researchers point out there could be some way to use modern computer techniques to determine and stopping cyberbullying.
Other research has suggested an uptick in cyberbullying during the COVID-19 pandemic when many youth and adults were quarantined at home and, as a consequence, online more often than before the pandemic. For example, a study of adults published in the Journal of Social Psychology identified statistically significant increases in pro-cyberbullying attitudes as well as in cyberbullying offending behavior. However, another study involving over 6,500 Canadian youth in grades 4–12 did not find higher rates of cyberbullying involvement. The authors speculated that this might be a result of closer monitoring and involvement of online activities by parents while their children were at home.
Internet trolling is a common form of bullying that takes place in an online community in order to elicit a reaction or disruption, or simply just for someone's own personal amusement. Cyberstalking is another form of bullying or harassment that uses electronic communications to stalk a victim; this may pose a credible threat to the victim.
Not all negative interaction online or on social media can be attributed to cyberbullying. Research suggests that there are also interactions online that result in peer pressure, which can have a negative, positive, or neutral impact on those involved.
Definitions
A frequently used definition of cyberbullying is "an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself." It is to be distinguished from normal conflicts between people of comparable power or status that often also occur online.There are many variations of the definition, such as the National Crime Prevention Council's more specific definition: "the process of using the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person." Cyberbullying is often similar to traditional bullying, with some notable distinctions. Victims of cyberbullying may not know the identity of their bully, or why the bully is targeting them, based on the online nature of the interaction. The harassment can have wide-reaching effects on the victim, as the content used to harass the victim can be spread and shared easily among many people and often remains accessible long after the initial incident.
The terms "cyberharassment" and "cyberbullying" are sometimes used synonymously, though some people use the latter to refer specifically to harassment among minors or in a school setting.
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking is a form of online harassment in which the perpetrator uses electronic communications to stalk a victim. This is considered more dangerous than other forms of cyberbullying because it generally involves a credible threat to the victim's safety. Cyberstalkers may send repeated messages intended to threaten or harass, and they may encourage others to do the same, either explicitly or by impersonating their victim and asking others to contact them.This can be a combination of most of the other methods in order to stalk someone using electronic means. This can include finding the victims location, harassing them with spam, or using sextortion. An example of this situation occurring is when Paris Deshaunte Evitt, a 30-year old from Tulsa cyberstalked one of his former partners. A news article on it states, "Between October 2018 and continuing until October 2020, Evitt used email, Facebook, and text messages to control and threaten the victim. However, his abuse of the victim had started years before. Between 2012 and 2019, Evitt was convicted on 5 different occasions for physically abusing the victim including strangulation, assault, and interfering with reporting. Evitt was also on state supervision at the time of the current offenses."" explained that Evitt had destroyed her sense of security and became emotional when she discussed Evitt's statement that he would rather see her dead than happy. She also stated, 'the longer he is away from my children and I, the more time we have to try and heal and move on with our lives, if that is even possible.'"
Trolling
Internet trolls intentionally try to provoke or offend others in order to elicit a reaction. Trolls and cyberbullies do not always have the same goals: while some trolls engage in cyberbullying, others may be engaged in comparatively harmless mischief. A troll may be disruptive either for their own amusement or because they are genuinely a combative person. Trolling can include insults, false news, or, terrorist threats.Hate raids
On Twitch and other livestreaming services, hate raids are situations where a stream is "raided" by many viewers who flood the chat with harassment and other hateful messages. This prevents the streamer from executing their stream. These viewers are typically automated bots, making it difficult to moderate and block.Spam
Spamming is the act of creating multiple accounts and sending messages to a target en masse. A common situation where spam can occur is after a breakup. If one partner is obsessive, they may send their ex messages on multiple platforms. This often happens despite being blocked by the recipient. The article What Can Police Do About Harassing Texts? states, "Keep in mind that harassment of any kind is illegal and includes in person, over the phone, via text messages, through social media, or any other method. Some laws are in place about cyberbullying that are designed to protect the public from this happening."Impersonation
Impersonation is the act of pretending be another person. If the offender pretends to be the victim, they may say or do things to hurt the victim's reputation. This can include hacking into a Twitter account and spreading disinformation. One famous example is when Sony Music's Twitter account was hacked and posted the following statement: "Britney Spears is dead by accident! we will tell you more soon. #RIPBRITNEY." Spears was, in fact, alive and well.Doxxing
Doxxing is the act of disclosing a victim's personal data, such as their home address, phone number, and full name. Doxxing can happen when fans in fandoms with large fanbases often go too far when protecting their idols and enter the realm of cyberbullying. Extreme fans of the K-pop music genre sometimes dox fans of rival music groups. This specifically was shown in an incident where fans of the group Blackpink doxxed the owner of a Twice fan account, sending him to a hospital. This is allegedly because a Twice member disrespected a Blackpink member.Sexual harassment
Online sexual harassment is considered a form of cyberbullying. Sextortion, a form of sexual harassment, is the act of coercing a person into sharing intimate images before threatening to release them unless money is paid. It is a specific type of blackmail. The line between sexual harassment and cyberbullying is blurred.Some people will blackmail their classmates for nudes, threatening to release embarrassing information. They also use revenge porn and release nudes to get payback. This was the case when a 16-year-old student of W.F. West High School in Chehalis exploited more than 100 victims, many of which were his classmates. He owned over 900 photos and videos of victims.
Methods used
Research has identified basic guidelines to help recognize and deal with what is regarded as abuse of electronic communications.- Cyberbullying involves repeated behavior with intent to harm.
- Cyberbullying is perpetrated through harassment, cyberstalking, denigration, impersonation, and exclusion
Cyberbullies may disclose victims' personal data on websites or forums—called doxing, or may use impersonation, creating fake accounts, comments or sites posing as their target for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames, discredits or ridicules them. This can leave the cyberbully anonymous, which can make it difficult for them to be caught or punished for their behavior, although not all cyberbullies maintain their anonymity. Users of semi-anonymous chat websites are at high risk for cyberbullying, as it is also easy in this outlet for a cyberbully to remain anonymous. Text or instant messages and emails between friends can also constitute cyberbullying if what is said is hurtful.
File:Email final.jpg|thumb|Cyberbullying by email from a fictional friend@hotmail.com
The recent rise of smartphones and mobile apps have yielded a more accessible form of cyberbullying. It is expected that cyberbullying via these platforms will occur more often than through more stationary internet platforms because of constant access to the internet. In addition, the combination of cameras and Internet access and the instant availability of these modern smartphone technologies yield specific types of cyberbullying not found in other platforms. It is likely that those cyberbullied via mobile devices will experience a wider range of cyberbullying methods than those who are exclusively bullied elsewhere.
Some teens argue that some events categorized as cyberbullying are simply drama. Danah Boyd writes, "teens regularly used that word to describe various forms of interpersonal conflict that ranged from insignificant joking around to serious jealousy-driven relational aggression. Whereas adults might have labeled many of these practices as bullying, teens saw them as drama."