Cyber Bullying

 

What Is Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content.

 Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.

The most common places where cyberbullying occurs are:

• Social Media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok
• Text messaging and messaging apps on mobile or tablet devices
• Instant messaging, direct messaging, and online chatting over the internet
• Online forums, chat rooms, and message boards, such as Reddit
• Email
• Online gaming communities

Types of cyberbullying

With time, cyberbullying has evolved to take many forms. Here are some common types of cyberbullying:

• Flaming: Using hurtful language in emails, text messages, or chat rooms against an individual
• Harassment: Sending hurtful, hateful, and/or threatening messages
• Cyberstalking: Following an individual online and sending emails or messages to scare, harm, or intimidate him
• Exclusion: Deliberately excluding an individual from a group and posting malicious comments/messages about her
• Impersonation/masquerading: Using a fake identity to damage an individual's reputation, and publicly sharing real or false information about him
• Trolling: Intentionally hurting an individual by posting insulting or inflammatory comments
• Fraping: Using an individual's social networking accounts to post inappropriate content to ruin her reputation.

Cyberbullying in India

India, unfortunately, is emerging as the global capital of cyberbullying. Here are a few studies that raise concerns about this menace.

• A survey conducted by Microsoft Corporation in 2012, across 25 countries ranked India third in the number of online bullying cases reported.
• According to the 2014 study conducted by the Internet security company, McAfee, "Half of the youth in India have had some experience with cyberbullying."

Current Scenario 

As per the research conducted on 400 students of age 11-14 in the Midwest, in October 2013, statistics say that 97.5% have been online in previous 30 days, 63% has cell phones, 43% are on Facebook, 42% are on Instagram, 11.5% have been target of cyberbullying in previous 30 days from which boys are 6.8% and girls 16%, and 3.9% have cyber bullied others in previous 30 days again of which boys are 0.6% and girls being 6.9%. 

Instagram has also become a mode of cyber bullying. There have been cases of cyberbullying on Instagram too. It can take place through posting embarrassing photos of a person, putting hash tags which can be insulting, posting something defaming or cruel comments, creating fake profiles.

Today, social media has become a large platform for cyber bullying. Confession pages are new and have held attention of most. A confession page of a community or institute allows people to post anything about anybody without their identity being revealed. The administrators of such pages receive inbox messages which they post on the page for everybody to ready. People who like these pages are connected and remain in that circle and keep getting notifications of posts on the page. Facebook pages and twitter pages are new in the trend. People can inbox anything to the admin to post it. These posts can be any specific confession also. Sometimes it includes posting of photos too which can be humiliating, also posting some secret information of the victim. People post anything since there is no threat of their identity being released. 

Rithika Sharma Case 

Facts of the Case 

Ritika Sharma (name changed), who studies at a prominent Delhi school, went to the police after being stalked by a Facebook user whom she had befriended on the site a month ago. She had given her cellphone number to the man who was later found to be using a fake name, photo and phone number. Experts say cyberbullying and cyberstalking are increasingly becoming a daily problem for the city's schoolkids with people using electronic communication like emailing, social networking and texting to harass or pursue them. 

Decision 

Delhi Police has been launching cyber safety awareness programmes in schools in which students are informed to avoid giving personal information online to anyone they don't know. 

Ritu Koli Case 

Facts of the Case 

The fact that cyber stalking does not involve physical contact may create the misperception that it is more benign than physical stalking. This is not necessarily true. As the Internet becomes an ever more integral part of our personal and professional lives, stalkers can take advantage of the ease of communications as well as increased access to personal information. Whereas a potential stalker may be unwilling or unable to confront a victim in person or on the telephone, he or she may have little hesitation sending harassing or threatening electronic communications to a victim. As with physical stalking, online harassment and threats may be a prelude to a more serious behaviour, including physical violence. 

Decision 

The Delhi Police has registered India‟s First Case of Cyberstalking in 2001 where a lady named Ritu Kohli complained that a person who was using her identity to chat over the Internet at the website www.mirc.com was also deliberately giving her telephone number to other chatters encouraging them to call Ritu Kohli at odd hours. As a result of which, Mrs. Kohli received an estimate of 40 calls, national as well as international, during odd hours within 3 days. A case was registered under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

More to know and still happening....

Anti-cyberbullying laws in India

Although there are no specific laws to regulate cyberbullying in India, we do have Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. This Act prescribes the punishment for sending annoying, offensive, and insulting communication through digital and information communication technology.

Given below are some other laws that can be used to tackle cyberbullying:

• Publishing or transmitting obscene material - Sec. 67
• Publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material in electronic form - Sec. 67A
• Word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman - Sec. 509
• Sending defamatory messages by e-mail - Sec. 499 IPC
• Printing, selling, advertising grossly indecent or scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail - Sec. 292A
• Stalking and contacting, or attempting to contact a woman - Sec. 354D
• Making sexually colored remarks, guilty of the offense of sexual harassment - Sec 354 A
• Violation of privacy - Sec. 66E
• Criminal intimidation by anonymous communication - Sec. 507

Although there are laws to penalize bullying, only a few victims and their families report instances of cyberbullying. A majority prefer to stay silent and hope that things will improve on their own.

To bring about a change in the mindset, there are some key issues that policymakers should consider. For example, the policymakers should adopt child-friendly policies which explain why cyberbullying is dangerous to children as well as to society. I feel broad discussions on these should be done in consultation with experts on cybercrime, lawyers, academics, child-rights activists, and educationists.

Written By: Suraj