Other than food, water, and shelter, the Internet has become the fourth important need of our everyday life. With social media, we have a whole different life in our hands, and just like the problems in our life outside social media, there are few in the world of social media too, one of which is bullying, we all at some point in time might have been subjected to social media bullying or have come across one, just like regular bullying social media bullying is a crime too. You can report this crime on these social media platforms itself, and if it’s a severe issue, you can go on lodging a complaint to the police.
So what is social media bullying?
Any sort of harassment done on social media platform can be termed as online bullying; some of the examples for the same are
- If a person is messaging you constantly without your consent, then it is bullying.
Stalking:
online stalking is quite common, though most of the time, it gets unnoticed and is not that severe; there are cases when the stalking is taken to the next level to gather your personal information, stalking you in person and even blackmailing.
Fake profiles:
Some people even go on making your fake profile, message people under your name, spread rumors, and many more.
- When someone shares your intimate or personal pictures or videos online without your consent.
Online Trolling:
If someone is trolling you online, on the post you share, or demeans and humiliate you publicly, then it’s a crime too.
Online threats:
Arguments are common on social media, over many subjects, mostly political, but if these arguments end up in threats or profane language, then that’s bullying too; sometimes you can get threats on your personal chats too.
Hacking:
If someone hacks your profile, he/she gets hold of all your personal information, your bank details, and many more, the person can use your profile to do some illegal activities too, which can get you in trouble, hacking is a severe crime and is quite common, there are quite a lot hackers out there who can easily hack your profile.
Prank calling:
Prank calls, if done to threaten or trouble someone, then it is bullying too.
These are the various ways in which bullying happens on social media.
So how do we prevent it from happening, and what to do if you are subjected to such bullying?
Prevention:
- keep your profile private; by keeping your profile private, you can give access to your profile to only the people you know or trust others can’t navigate through your profile.
- Don’t share your passwords with anyone even if you know them, and honestly, there is no need to share your password with anyone.
- Avoid getting into online arguments: commenting on some issue or sharing your views is okay and necessary, but getting into fights for the same with an unknown person is unnecessary; instead, just put your point of view and leave.
- Unfriending and blocking: if you see a person as a threat or nuisance, then you can always unfriend or block them; doing so, you can avoid any further mishaps.
Now that we have talked about prevention methods, let’s discuss the solutions.
What to do if you are the one being bullied?
Save evidence:
If you are getting threat messages or someone is using profane language against you, humiliating you publicly, then always take screenshots of such instances and save these shreds of evidence, they might be of use if you are looking forward to dealing with them legally.
know the laws:
Read about the norms regarding cyberbullying, what defines as cyberbullying, what is the punishment for the same, whom to contact, or where to lodge a complaint; there is a special cyber-crime department for such issues, find out about the helpline number and note it down.
- If you find out about a fake account of you, the first thing you can do is put a post warning your friends and family about that fake account to prevent any misunderstandings or happenings; you can further file a complaint about the same.
- In case of sexual abuse or your personal pictures being put out in the public domain, immediately file a complaint against that person since it’s a severe crime that needs to be dealt with by law.
- If you find out you are being hacked, then immediately inform the cybercrime department because your account can be misused in many ways; notify the bank to freeze your account cause the hackers might even manage to hack into them. Further, you can put a warning message or post to the people in your contact about the incident to avoid any harm.
Take a break:
Once a post or a picture is out on these social media platforms, it’s hard to stop them; things can go viral within hours, so if your photos are put out in public, and you are being trolled over something then take the necessary legal steps and then take a break from those platforms to prevent them affecting your peace of mind.
And the most important:
Do not share your personal information on these social media platforms, like your address, contact details, and other essential details.
To conclude, the world of the internet is quite risky; things spread like fluid, and it’s hard to stop them, and hence being careful and knowing about the laws is necessary.
