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What is Cyber Bullying?

Definition, Types, Effects, Laws
Cyberbullying is a cybercrime in which the bullying
takes place digitally on online platforms like social
media, gaming communities, etc where users can
view, share content or messages. On these online
platforms, some people(attacker) shares negative
post, harmful, false content, or personal information,
etc. about someone(victim) to humiliate, threatens,
degrades, or embarrass that person online. It is a
very serious issue because it affects the whole life of
a person(victim). Even some people(victims) kill
themselves. Cyber bullying is different from the real
world bullying, it leaves digital footprints and using
these digital footprints we can find the source and
stop the bullying or get the proper evidence that helps
the victim for justice. Some examples of cyberbullying
are:

Posting embarrassing photos of the targeted victim

Sending threats via online platforms
Spreading rumors about the victim by falsifying
stuff
Impersonating someone and sending mean
messages to the victim on their behalf

Types of cyberbullying

In the age of the internet, numerous contents are

shared or posted by numerous individuals. personal
content as well as any negative, mean, or threat
content – creates a kind of permanent record of the
views they possess, their activities, and their
behavior. Based on the nature of cyberbullying, it is
broadly classified into the following terms:

1. Persistent cyberbullying: This kind of

cyberbullying exists all the time based on the fact
that social media or messaging platforms are easily
accessible to all. A person experiencing cyberbully
in this way hardly finds little relief from it due to its
permanent nature. The constant bullying puts the
the victim on depression.
2. Permanent cyberbullying: This kind of
cyberbullying takes place online and leaves a
permanent digital footprint, which if not reported
never gets deleted, thus staying in the online
platform forever. A permanent cyberbully post can
haunt a victim for a lifetime affecting his future as
well as the present.
3. Hard to notice: Such type of bullying doesn’t gain
much attention. Most people including parents and
teachers are not aware of such a kind of cyberbully
thereby failing to recognize it. The person bullying
the victim gets an added advantage in such a case.
4. Cyberstalking: It includes monitoring, making false
accusations, threats along offline stalking. It is
regarded as a serious form of cyberbullying. It
might extend to physical threats to the targeted
victim.
5. Trickery: It is a kind of cyberbully where the bully
gain trust of the victim by promising false security
and then the bully takes disadvantage of the trust
and leaks private information to the third party.
6. Trolling: Here, the bully intentionally posts
offensive posts or comments online to harass the
victim. The bully generally does not have any
personal relationship with the victim but intends to
harm the victim mentally.

Effects of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a disgusting crime when it happens

with a person(or victim), the victim feels attacked from
everywhere. For them, it’s like there is no escape
from this. The effects of cyberbullying are long-
lasting. It can affect a person personal life in the
following ways:

Mentally: The victim of cyberbully remains in a

state of upset, anger, and ashamed of his own self.
the victim lives in a constant state of fear and
anxiety that can lead to serious problems like
depression, mood swings, etc.
Emotionally: Cyberbullying brings a significant
stressor in the lives of people. Even the victim
starts blaming himself and loses interest in
everything and eventually drys out.
Low Self-Esteem: When cyberbullying happens
the victim feels helpless. It also impacts his/her
self-esteem. The victim starts feeling severe
dissatisfaction with who they are. Due to which they
start doubting their worth and value.
Suicidal Thoughts and Self-Harming: Victim
takes these extreme steps when the cyberbullying
feels unbearable to them. Victims who are
constantly exposed to cyberbullying start feeling
the loss of hope and take extreme steps to get rid
of it.

How to identify cyberbullying?

It is not an easy task to identify how and where

cyberbullying happens because it usually happens on
various platforms which makes it extremely difficult to
find the exact roots and track. However, there are
some signs that can indicate that he/she might be
suffering from cyberbullying. Following are the signs
listed below:

Appearing more lonely or distressed.

A decline in school or college grades.
Upset after using the internet or mobile.
Secretive about their online activities.
Changes in mood, becoming more withdrawn,
anxious, sad, or angry.

Why do teenagers cyberbully others?

Cyberbullying takes place due to many reasons and it

looks more appealing because of its anonymous
nature. Below are some reasons why teenagers
might bully the victims:

Anonymity: As we know that cyberbullying takes

place online so most of the bullies or attackers
choose to be anonymous. So that they can hide
their real identity due to which the bullies think that
they can never be caught and can continue bullying
people safely.
Social pressure: Some bullies think that kind of
behavior is normal as their peers encourage them
to do so. The bullies don’t get to see the reaction of
the victim, therefore they feel their bully act is
socially acceptable.
Not aware of the after-effects: Most of the
cyberbullies fail to see the mental pressure or the
reaction of the victim, thereby unable to understand
the amount of damage done to the victim by them.

How to stop cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is a criminal offense that makes a

permanent negative impact on a victim’s mindset so it
is very important to stop cyberbullying before it spoils
someone’s precious life. Following are the steps we
can take to curb this menace:

1. Report: Nowadays, almost every social media

platforms are well equipped with a feature to report
any cyberbullying post or message. They have
clear-cut policies about cyberbullying and even
provide the feature to remove offensive and hurtful
posts from their platforms.
2. Support: Elders or peers can play a major role in
helping the victim to come out of the trauma of
cyberbullying. They can motivate positively the
victim to come back to his normal life forgetting the
past.
3. Notice: Notice your peers and identify if there’s any
change in mood or behavior and try to find out the
cause. Give full support to the victim and help him
in getting the cyberbullying content reported.
4. Block the bullies: It is the most important step to
stop cyberbully is to block the person or source
from where all the bullying is originating. Then take
a printout of all the hurtful content and get it
reported immediately.
5. Tell a trusted person: The victim who is being
constantly bullied by the bullies must not hesitate
and immediately share this incident with his/her
trusted person like parents, teachers, friends, etc
so that they can take proper steps to stop this
crime on time.

Laws against cyberbullying in India

Below are the Laws against cyberbullying in India.

1. Section 67 of the act prescribes punishment for

publishing or transmitting vulgar content in digital
form for a term which may extend to five years and
also a fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
2. Section 507 states that if anyone receives a
criminal threat by way of an anonymous
communication then the person giving threats shall
be punished with imprisonment for up to two years.
3. Section 66 E prescribes punishment for violation of
privacy. The section states that any person who
intentionally violates privacy by sharing, capturing
or publishing private pictures of others(victims)
shall be punished with to three years jail or a fine of
up to three lakhs.

Article Tags : Class 11 School Learning

School Programming

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