The availability of the Internet and the development of social networks have allowed many people to expand their communication boundaries. For adults, virtual dating has become an addition to the existing skills of real communication. Teenagers learn communication skills both in life and on the Internet. Remote communication can be anonymous, making it possible to experiment with your image: appearance, age, social status, and even gender. In the process of communication between people, conflicts arise: virtual communication is no exception. By posting photos and personal information on social media pages, a person can become the object of criminal actions. The relevance of the research topic is related to the fact that the number of people using social networks is growing. At the same time, they do not see the danger in remote communication and find themselves unprotected in the virtual world, being subjected to cyberbullying. This is a social problem and needs to be discussed and solutions found.
The main purpose of cyberbullying is to worsen the emotional sphere of the victim and destroy her social relationships. Cyberbullying includes a range of different forms of behavior, from playful-humorous to virtual psychological terror, which can be suicide. Often, the victims are insecure teenagers or teenagers belonging to a culture that differs from the culture of others (Rathi 388). Direct cyberbullying is direct attacks on a child through calls or messages. In case of indirect cyberbullying, other people are involved in the process. The stalker can hack the victim’s account and, masquerading as the owner, send messages from this account to the victim’s acquaintances, destroying his communicative field and creating doubt about his moral qualities.
In addition, online cyberbullying also includes the spread of slander. In this case, humiliating or false data about a person, photos, and videos are sent, particularly in a sexualized and damaging form to his reputation. The main reason for cyberbullying of teenagers is the desire for superiority. Some people need to achieve public recognition when they still lack the resources, strength, and patience to establish themselves independently. For this reason, they seek to assert themselves by humiliating others in the eyes of others. The desire to assert themselves or increase their authority in the company may negatively affect those who discover a weak ability to adapt. Another reason is a sense of their inferiority, which entails envy and revenge. An individual’s inferiority complex can arise due to various reasons: discrimination, mental trauma, mistakes, and failures (Marr and Marry 578). Cyberbullying contains all the necessary conditions to compensate for one’s inferiority – from creating an ideal virtual image of the “I” to self-affirmation through belittling the other.
Despite the supposed advantages of the new draft law on the protection of children, its discussion also causes opposite emotions on the part of public figures, lawyers, and the general population. Journalists and experts in digital rights oppose the adoption of this law by the authorities. They are sure that the authorities will remove unwanted content from cyberbullying under the pretext of protecting children. According to some experts, this bill will protect children from harassment on the Internet, but it will also clear the Internet of opponents of the authorities. In this regard, experts in digital rights, human rights activists, and journalists called on the authorities to abandon the idea of adopting norms that strengthen the regulation of social networks and messengers. Of course, if people think globally, then cyberbullying and all its manifestations pose a danger.
People lack mechanisms that would work; but this does not mean that social networks can become the main mechanism for solving this problem. According to law enforcement agencies, this problem can be dealt with more thoroughly by introducing amendments to the law that would take into account negative statements to victims in social networks and correspondence. At the same time, this should become real evidence of harassment if the victim still goes to the police, as well as reforms carried out in educational institutions.
Another way to solve the problem of cyberbullying and harassment, public figures also seeing an established interaction with law enforcement officers and the police. For example, there are no laws specifically dedicated to bullying at the federal level in the United States. Criminal cyberbullying cases may fall into discrimination, harassment, or hate crimes if they are based on race, national origin, skin color, gender, age, disability, or religion (Sîrbu and Bacter 386) If people talk about the role of the American state in solving this problem, then it is minimal. Egregious cases, as a result of which children become victims of cyberbullying, are solved precisely by contacting the police at their place of residence.
In conclusion, cyberbullying is an urgent problem because now the information generation and people can’t be without gadgets, laptops, and cell phones. It is necessary to take measures to solve this problem and take precautions to help children and teenagers who surf the Internet every day not become victims of cyberbullying. Law enforcement agencies are becoming more open to cooperation and understanding in our state, and they are also far from prejudices that the victim is to blame for what happened. It is the trusting attitude of citizens toward representatives of law and order that could resolve the issue of bullying of children on social networks.
Works Cited
Marr, Kristy L., and Mary N. Duell. “Cyberbullying and cybervictimization: Does gender matter?” Psychological reports 124.2 (2021): 577-595.
Sîrbu, Ioana, and Claudia Bacter. “How to Tackle Bullying in School–Investigation Study.” Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala 13.1Sup1 (2021): 384-402.
Rathi, Harsh Vardhan. “Need of Special Provisions for Cyberbullying in India.” Supremo Amicus 18 (2020): 388.