Cyberbully in Social Media

Cyberbully in Social Media

Social media continues to be an essential life-changer of human communication and interaction in the contemporary world. Indeed, we cannot wish away its profound impact, whether positive or negative, in regards to social interactions and societies’ well-being. In particular, the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by rogue users is increasingly becoming a worrying trend. Because of the prevalence of cyberbullying in social media, the government should implement robust anti-cyberbully policies.

Social media refers to interactive websites and applications designed to all rapidly share content and in real-time (Amedie 3).  Social media allows people to communicate remotely, anonymously, or generally from various parts of the globe.  The Innovation of social media has shaped human interaction trends significantly. While the choice of mode and platform of communication varies, there are sections of the population that prefer to communicate on the face to face basis without an online platform. In contrast, others prefer to communicate nonverbally or face to face via social media. Although social media has helped people communicate seamlessly and in real-time, its misuse has had negative impacts as well (Amedie 5). According to Ferrara, Ianniello, Villani, et al.,  cyberbullying is the intentional act of using any form of technology to intimidate the recipient of the message (1). It entails spreading false information, posting photographic material without the victim’s consent, defraud people to reveal private information

According to UNICEF, one in three teens in 30 countries reported to have been a victim of online cyberbullying, with a fifth said to have skipped school due to online bullying and violence (UNICEF). Further evidence by Enough.org reveals that nearly 54% of the youth surveyed reported cyberbullying as follows: 39 % on Facebook, 29% on YouTube, 22% on Twitter, and 22% on Instagram (Enough.org). Similarly, in another incidence, a significant section of the teen reported they were bulled based on 61% appearance, 25 % academic performance, 17% race, !5% sexuality, 15% financial status, 11% religion and 2)% on other reasons. Although the mainstream platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram account for the most of the cyberbullying cases, the perpetrator of cyberbullying use other text-based platforms such as what sup, telegram, online message boards, and chatrooms to intimidate or attack victims irrespective of how distant they are from their aggressors. These statistics demonstrate the need to reinforce the existing laws as well as introducing new legislation to seal the gaps that are exploited by the perpetrators.

Further, the statistics can be used to make strategic decisions on areas that need urgent attention as well as tracking and monitoring the progress made by relevant bodies in arresting the situation. Cyberbullying in social media has profound effects on its users. The fact that the aggressors can reach every corner of the world, including homes of the victims, makes it’s more damning and traumatic. It, therefore, means a lot to the users since they walk around with their gadgets as well as their around the clock access make it’s more serious. For, instance, a cyberbully could be a colleague, in school or workplace, posing anonymously with the desire to intimidate the victim. Cyberbullying affects significant learners in schools. According to UNICEF report, a considerable number of the teens that reported cyberbullying abstained from school besides making learning experience difficult. Learners become disinterested in school because of humiliation and self-esteem. In turn, performance in school becomes compromised, and the grade begins to dwindle the online bullies’ presence take a toll on their victims since they can attack at any given convenience. Persistent cyberbully through social media platforms may cause depression on the victims. It is not uncommon to find victims of cyberbullying withdrawing from people or peers, struggling with self-esteem issues, and declining productivity from work or school. In other circumstances, the victims took up their lives because of overwhelming and constant bullying.

In the wake of increasing incidences and negatives impacts of cyberbullying in social media, a reevaluation of the existing policies regarding user rights, protection of private life, and stricter punishment for those who contravene the law require urgent attention (UNICEF). The plans should incorporate the countermeasures, means for identifying and reporting cyberbullying cases and incidents, and ways of rehabilitating the victims. Major hurdles encountered in handling cyberbullying are the fact that their abundant laws but inefficacy in saying and follow up have minimized the prosecution of the offenders. The trial of offenders, especially transboundary cases involving cyberbullying, has proved difficult (Ferrara et al. 2). As such, the perpetrator takes advantage because of weaker reporting mechanisms and actions. For instance, simply lead to the blocking of the account without serious effort being taken on the offender. Besides, certain offenders use applications that disguise location and IP address of the gadget used, thereby making it difficult to track the offenders. The owners, victim’s multi agencies charged with the prosecution of cyber cases should work in collaboration to track down and bring to book the offenders.

Conclusively, cyberbullying in social media and other platforms requires a multifaceted approach of affected stakeholders because of its misuse and negative impacts on society. Backed by statistics, more focus should be geared toward identifying policy gaps for prevention, reporting and prosecution cyberbullying cases.

Works cited

Amedie, Jacob. “The impact of social media on society.” (2015).

Enough.org. Cyberbullying Statistics.2020. https://enough.org/stats_cyberbullying

Ferrara, P., Ianniello, F., Villani, A. et al. Cyberbullying a modern form of bullying: let’s talk about this health and social problem. Ital J Pediatr 44, 14 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-018-0446-4

UNICEF. UNICEF poll: More than a third of young people in 30 countries report being a victim of online bullying.  Accessed from: www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-poll-more-third-young-people-30-countries-report-being-victim-online-bullying.