Kyberšikana, cyber harassment, computer bullying or cyberbullying. We can call it whatever we like, but it is still bullying, differing only in its setting, namely cyberspace. Unfortunately, there are now more ways to hurt someone or damage them in public. The internet opens the door even wider to this negative social behaviour. At a time when almost everyone is on social media, nothing could be easier.
Table of contents
Cyberbullying, what is it?
Hurting someone online can be done fully deliberately, or even without intent. Many recorded stories of cyberbullying began with a poorly judged “joke” on social media that turned into a very unpleasant and painful situation for its victim. The opposite is when a so-called “aggressor” chooses their “victim” and deliberately targets them.
Cyberbullying, or kyberšikana in Czech, has the same basis as the bullying we know:
- It is a deliberately aggressive act intended to hurt the victim (physically or psychologically)
- the attacks on the victim are repeated and continue over a long period
- the victim is unable to defend themselves effectively against the attacks (there is a power imbalance between the aggressor and the victim)
The impact of such behaviour can have far-reaching consequences. A victim of cyberbullying does not just carry “scars on the soul”. A well-aimed attack on you can even cost you your social standing or your job. The victim of an attack may struggle with lower self-esteem, feelings of despair and fear, physical symptoms, depression, difficulty forming relationships, falling grades and so on. In the worst case, targeted pressure can drive you to a breakdown and suicide.
The consequences of cyberbullying are mentioned here only in very general terms. In reality, the implications are much wider. By invading the space that holds your greatest privacy, it leads to a violation of your rights and freedoms. On a technical level, it means intrusion into your apps, passwords and personal data, and a loss of privacy and safety. On a physical level, it includes, for example, attacks that are filmed and then shared on social media.
Types of cyberbullying
We are not just talking about monitoring accounts or posting photos on inappropriate websites. Here are some types of cyberbullying:
- Cyber harassment – This means repeated inappropriate messages that become unpleasant for one side, while the other side is unwilling to stop. These may be text messages, online messages or emails.
- Cyberstalking – This is so-called stalking in cyberspace. The person may follow you on social media, on your phone or by email. Stalking takes away your privacy and sense of safety.
- Ostracism, or exclusion – The person is excluded from an online group. Here the exclusion is public (everyone knows about it), so the impact can be much worse than in a real-life group.
- Cybergrooming – This is when an aggressor uses cyberspace to persuade their victim to meet in person. Sadly, the most common victims are children, who spend a lot of time online.
- Flaming – so-called verbal attacks. You have surely seen countless unpleasant, insulting and negative comments on articles and posts online.
- Happy Slapping – cyberbullying that has a physical impact on the victim. This type of attack originated in Great Britain: the aggressor chooses a victim and then physically attacks them. The act is filmed on a mobile phone and then published online. (Some of these attacks have led to suicide.)
The list of types of this bullying alone hints at the consequences it can cause.
Cyberbullying, stories
It starts with insults and ends in suicide
There are a great many stories, or cases, of cyberbullying and more are added every day. The internet is the most widespread and accessible “public space” in the world. It is therefore clear that the number of bullying cases in cyberspace is almost impossible to count. Anyone can become a victim. A small child (who should not really be online at all), adults, men, women, students, teachers… Let us mention some of them, from the less serious to the most “chilling”.
STUDENTS AND THEIR “FUN”
The silliest forms of fun are probably found among children and students. Young people want to have fun and do not want to think about the consequences. But what may seem like “great fun” at first can turn into humiliation and a loss of social standing among classmates. The most common cases of cyberbullying at school include, for example, spreading personal information about a chosen classmate, or spreading lies about them going through a deeply embarrassing situation such as wetting themselves, a wet dream and so on. Worse cases include filming female classmates while they change in the changing room and then posting these videos on social media.
Much worse cases include, among those mentioned above, young students choosing their victim. They then physically attacked them and again posted the video on social media. The worst cases happened when the “fun was upgraded” to a higher level. The victim was forced to undress or was even sexually abused. Some of these victims, took their own lives after the video was published.
In general, most cases of cyberbullying happen among students and young people. The stories reveal innocent attempts at a joke, carefully planned schemes to humiliate a classmate out of revenge, harassed girls, naked photos of boys and girls, the most personal secrets exposed, physical attacks and violent games.
WE USED TO RESPECT TEACHERS
A very widespread form of online bullying today is bullying of teachers. Students amuse themselves by filming them during lessons and then spreading the videos in cyberspace. Filming a teacher bending down to a pupil, or slips of the tongue and so on, is still something an adult can cope with. Unfortunately, however, many cases are much worse. They range from spreading insulting, offensive and false information about teachers to humiliation and harm by students (and even parents).
In connection with bullying of teachers, the term cyberbaiting has emerged. It means deliberately provoking a teacher and waiting for their reaction, which is “of course” filmed and spread in cyberspace. It hardly needs saying that in some cases the school (under pressure from parents and the public) was forced to terminate the teacher’s employment.
One of the worst Czech cases of cyberbullying of a teacher was that of Jiří Pacholík, a primary school teacher who hanged himself at home because of everything that happened after his case. The problem of cyberbaiting, however, is worldwide, and sadly such cases are not rare.
Cyberbullying, how to defend yourself? Prevention, prevention, prevention…
Cases of cyberbullying cannot all be listed in one article. Anyone can become a victim. It makes no difference whether a student or a teacher is attacked. A young or an old person. Whether they are attacked by an individual or a group. This bullying is happening, and on a global scale. Today it is not about an older classmate taking your pocket money or your snack. Today it is about people knowing how to hurt, and hurt badly, and having cyberspace to do it in, which removes inhibitions because everything happens “virtually”.
The most effective and most basic way to defend yourself against cyberbullying is PREVENTION itself! Every child and every young person should know their own values well and should be properly informed, at the very least by their parents and also by their school, that cyberbullying happens. And not only that something like this exists. They should know well its scale and the impact it has. Not “may” have. It does!
Young people cannot be isolated by cutting them off from the internet. Such a solution would more likely have the opposite effect. Being excluded from today’s social norm is “the end of the line”. But parents should keep track of where and how their children spend time online. They should use parental controls and not take it lightly when they notice negative posts by their children or a negative attitude from their friends.
Educational institutions can protect themselves with restrictions such as banning the use of mobile phones in schools. At the very least during lessons. Unfortunately, many schools have not yet introduced this measure. Many parents give their children a mobile phone as a way of checking up on them, such as: “Are you at school yet? Are you home yet?”. Schools are therefore often pushed into decisions or non-decisions by parents.
U mládeže proto platí, že největší ochranou jsou zde rodiče. Ti se starají o prostor, kde tráví jejich děti čas, ale zároveň si uvědomují možnosti a zodpovědnost školy. Rodiče často sklouzávají k názoru, že “moje dítě za to přeci nemůže, to ten učitel je….”. Jenže tento přístup nahrává všem, kteří se chtějí bavit tím, jak někomu jiného zničí život.
E-Bezpečí
Among the official and more extensive resources, it is worth mentioning, for example, the national project for preventing risky behaviour online called E-BEZPEČÍ. This nationwide, certified project focuses (among other things) on prevention, education, research, intervention and raising awareness of risky behaviour in cyberspace. The project is run by Palacký University in cooperation with other organisations.
As part of the E-Bezpečí project’s work, staff carry out fieldwork with target groups. People from the project spread information about the issue and try to educate young people in this area, helping to prevent risky behaviour and cyberbullying. This “awareness-raising” is aimed at school pupils and students, teachers, police officers, parents, social care workers and others.
ANONYMITY ON THE INTERNET
Last but not least, it is important to mention our technical options. These days we are almost “watched” on the internet. Each of us puts countless amounts of data and personal information online, practically every day. We create our own digital footprint, which various organisations can see and process. And not everyone who handles this data has good intentions, or rather “only commercial ones”.
One possible way to protect yourself against invasions of privacy online is, for example, to hide your IP address. An IP address is something like your ID in cyberspace. This tip is probably not one that students and young people will reach for, but for a responsible adult it is welcome advice. You can hide your IP address, for example, by using public Wi-Fi, connecting through proxy servers, using the Tor browser or using a VPN service. Film studios are also starting to take on the problem of cyberbullying to draw attention to it through realistic psychological films.
At the very least, you should try using what is known as incognito mode.
Cyberbullying and the law?
And what does the law say? In the Czech Republic, unfortunately, it applies only “indirectly” for now. The term cyberbullying itself is not defined in Czech law, but through it the aggressor, that is the offender, commits specific criminal offences. In cases of online bullying that involve bodily harm, restriction of freedom, blackmail and so on, these are already criminal offences there. Rules differ between countries, so ask your local police or a lawyer.
If someone reports something like “My photo is being shared on an inappropriate website without my consent” or “People are writing false and defamatory things about me in such and such a place…”, the police will order the party concerned to remove the specific “post”. If the aggressor does not do so, the police remove it themselves. Unfortunately, this is not a permanent solution. It often happens that a few days after the police remove a post, it appears again in the same place or on another server.
CYBERBULLYING AND THE PUNISHMENT FOR IT?
As already mentioned, the law does not yet “cover” the act of cyberbullying itself, but there are a number of offences that arise from it, and those are punishable. Under the Criminal Code (trestní zákoník), Act No. 306/2009 Coll., the aggressor can be punished for the consequences of bullying in cyberspace, for example in these cases:
- Bodily harm (Section 146)
- Restriction of personal freedom (Section 171)
- Blackmail (Section 175)
- Defamation (Section 184)
- Violence against a group of people or an individual (Section 352)
- Sexual abuse (Section 187)
- Abuse of a child for the production of pornography (Section 193)
- Infringement of the rights of others (Section 181)
- Stalking (Section 354)
…and many more. Penalties for these offences can include imprisonment ranging from 1 to 8 years. So cyberbullying as such is not listed in the law as a criminal offence, but it leads to the offences above, and those are covered by the law. It is therefore important to know about these threats and above all the ways to defend yourself against them. As with any danger, what will help you most here is preventing cyberbullying in the first place.
Cyberbullying, not just bullying online.
The internet is a wonderful place, but it can also be very dangerous. Think of it as a means that can bring anyone into your home. Anything you share online can be used against you. That is why it is important to weigh up all the information you want to put online and, above all, to protect children, who do not yet have much idea of its pitfalls. Keep in mind that you or your child could end up as a victim of cyberbullying, and it can happen very quickly and very unexpectedly.
IT IS NOT JUST THE INTERNET ON A COMPUTER
Let us also not forget that people’s idea of cyberbullying is often “limited”. An aggressor can threaten you not only through a computer. Cyberspace also covers mobile phones, tablets, or rather electronic media in general. It is not only about online posts such as photos, videos, comments or false information. It can also involve emails, text messages, app messages and so on.
In short, be careful, watch out for risky behaviour around you and think carefully about what information you share and where.
