One Bollywood Divorce rumour and people start finding fault in the actress’ ageing and the actor’s possibility of being indulged in extramarital affair. A rich businessman marries a not-so rich girl and people hate him for his weight, expressly abusing him online while already suggesting the amount of alimony she should be demanding at the time of divorce. You see how cyberbullying in social media works? Ruining the peace of mind and spreading hate at full pace. This is about celebrities who have a separate team managing their social media handles. But what happens with people like you and me…..whom not many people know but still end up risking their peace and reputation at the hands of those who have the hobby of sharing uninvited opinions or shutting others for no reason. Here, we discuss social media cyberbullying, how it affects, whether there are any laws to help, and how you can prevent it. Let’s go step-by-step and explore this.
What is Cyberbullying?
In general, bullying can be understood as words or actions which are repeatedly targeted at someone leading to enhanced distress and harassment. When digital platforms like social media, gaming platforms, messaging apps are used for such aggressive behaviour, it may be termed as cyberbullying. There is no separate provision outlining what constitutes cyberbullying to state any punishment under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the Information Technology Act, 2000. However, there are some provisions which indirectly touch upon what constitutes cyberbullying in social media or other platforms and lays punishment for the same.
Cyberbullying Examples from Real Life
Since some people may find it difficult to understand the concept of cyberbullying, we have compiled some examples shared by people who were targeted and bullied online:
- Someone filmed a girl while she was intoxicated and published it all over the internet to make it viral, of course without her permission.
- A well known actress applied a not so usual lip colour, and people unsettled with the lip shade posted comments, trolling her for her life choices, and suggesting to hire another make-up artist, thereby targeting the actress and literally everyone associated with her in professional and personal life. That’s how cyberbullying in social media affects celebrities, and they need to build immunity against any such comments.
- A boys’ group had a fight with another group, due to the fault of one of the group members. However, someone filmed it and posted it over the internet by sharing one of the wrong facts. Now, the group who stood by the right cause was being targeted.
- This girl posted a beautiful picture of herself, but a man apparently did not like her skin colour. She received such hateful messages from this man reasoning about why she should be ashamed of her skin and not flaunting it over the digital platforms.
- A boy in class experimented with a new haircut, which his classmates found very much unsettling, and decided to make fun of him by making a group, using social media for cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying in Indian Laws
While cyberbullying is in itself not tagged as one of the explicit cyber crimes, there are some of the offences under Indian laws which squarely cover the menace of cyberbullying and punish the perpetrators.
- Section 66A of the IT Act 2000 laid the punishment for sending offending messages through communication services. It may be noted that the provision was struck down by the Supreme Court of India in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) for being unconstitutional.
- Section 67 of IT Act punishing the act of publishing or transmitting obscene material.
- IT Act Section 67A for publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material.
- Defamation under Section 356 of BNS 2023 for making false remarks about a person in public.
- Section 351 of BNS for criminally intimidating a person, threatening for his/her well-being, reputation or property, etc.
Why do people cyberbully?
Bullies are those who assume that they are superior to others. This false pretence of power leads them to harass those who are seemingly nice or do not raise their voices against other people’s faulty behaviours. When it comes to online platforms, people think that if they are behind the screen under a fake name or identity, they cannot be traced. This sense of anonymity gives the ability to speak out whatever they want, regardless of their words harassing others. Cyberbullying on social media is a problem because those people forget the fact that their outspoken demeanour may cause serious mental breakdown or loss of confidence in the person whom they targeted. While the harm may not be bodily, mental health is equally important, and that is why social media cyberbullying needs to be regulated.
How to stop online harassment?
On a personal level, you should first make sure to keep it private while posting, so that only the people you want watch your posts or can connect with you. If it’s a public post, that should not bother much as well. On part of the authorities, there should be stricter laws addressing the menace of hate speech in India. There should be something to regulate trolls as well, because people commenting do not realise when they are cyberbullying in social media and affecting the others with their uncalled for harsh opinions.
How to deal with cyberbullying on social media?
While people may suggest that they have the right to speech and expression, there are certain restrictions to it. Cyberbullying in social media or other online platforms is not warranted, and should not be tolerated. The first rule is not to respond, and hide/delete any such comments. You should block the person who is exercising cyberbullying on social media, and also make sure to report them. Mass reporting against a social media account usually disables such a person from repeating such acts. If the problem is serious, you may report the person and lodge a cyber complaint against them.
How not to cyberbully?
While questioning others, people often miss out on noticing their own seemingly harmless comments which actually constitute cyberbullying in social media. Whenever you are online, there should be a sense of responsibility that hate sells faster but may bring a lot of trouble as well. When you decide to opine on the outfit, the skin colour, the pose or anything related to content shared by others, or texting the ex-boyfriend or girlfriend whom you hate now, think twice before drafting your message/comment or hitting that ENTER button. While the anonymity or screen behind the network may seem safe, the authorities can still trace you if your act constitutes a cyber crime.
