Online Abuse and Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying - Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted.
Examples include:
- spreading lies about or posting embarrassing photos or videos of someone on social media
- sending hurtful, abusive or threatening messages, images or videos via messaging platforms
- impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf or through fake accounts
- engaging in sexual harassment or bullying using generative AI tools
Face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying can often happen alongside each other. But cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint – a record that can prove useful and provide evidence to help stop the abuse.
Different types of bullying and online abuse are broken down below:
Sextortion - this is a type of online blackmail where criminals threaten to share sexual pictures, videos, or information about you unless you pay money or do something else you don’t want to.
Intimate Image Abuse - this includes sharing, taking or threatening to share intimate images without consent. This can include Deepfake images. These are digitally created and altered content often in the form of fake images, videos and audio recordings. In some cases, this deepfaked content can take on the exact likeness of a real person – this could be of you or someone you know.
It’s illegal to share or threaten to share intimate photos or videos of someone without their permission and this includes deepfake images. It's also illegal to create, or ask someone to create, fake intimate images or videos of someone without their permission.
Sexualised bullying - a person being targeted by, and systematically excluded from, a group or community with the use of sexual content that humiliates, upsets or discriminates against them.
For instance - gossip, rumours or lies about sexual behaviour posted online either naming someone directly or indirectly alluding to someone. ‘Outing’ someone where the individual’s sexuality or gender identity is publicly announced online without their consent
Unwanted sexualisation - A person receiving unwelcome sexual requests, comments and content. Sexualised comments (e.g. on photos). For instance, sending someone sexual content (images, emojis, messages) without consent.
Doxxing - this is the act of publicly revealing or sharing someone's private and personal information online without their consent, such as their home address, phone number, or workplace. This information is typically shared with the intent to harass or harm the individual.
Grooming refers to the actions of an individual who builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. This is often carried out via social media, gaming, or chat apps, to gain their trust and manipulate them into sexual activity, sharing explicit images, or meeting in person. Predators often use fake profiles, offer gifts, and demand secrecy, making this a serious form of abuse that is never the child’s fault.
Trolling is a form of baiting online which involves sending abusive and hurtful comments across all social media platforms.
Catfishing - a form of online deception where someone creates a fake identity on social media or dating apps to trick others, typically for romantic, financial, or malicious reasons.