- According to Dada Disinfo report, online harassment emerges as the most prevalent form of Technology-Facilitated Gender-based Violence (TFGBV).
- Of the respondents in the report, 58 per cent mentioned having experienced TFGBV highlighting it.
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Imagine a situation where you tweet something, say on the current situation in the country on the Gen Z anti-Finance Bill protests.
You express your opinion and in an hour, you have over 100 comments.
Excited to have elicited so much interaction on X, you scroll down the comments only to find that most of them are negative.
You find that you have been insulted and lies are being told about you, even with some threatening you.
That is what Dada Disinfo calls Technology-Facilitated Gender-based Violence (TFGBV) or cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
It can take place on social media, messaging platforms and gaming platforms.
Cyberbullying is a repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted.
The habit includes spreading lies about or posting embarrassing photos of someone on social media, sending hurtful messages or threats via messaging platforms, impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf.
According to a recent Dada Disinfo report, online harassment emerges as the most prevalent form of TFGBV.
Of the respondents in the report, 58 per cent mentioned having experienced TFGBV highlighting online harassment.
Stalking (44 per cent), Hate Speech (42 per cent), and Impersonation (28 per cent) were also experienced by a significant number of respondents.
For gender comparison, more females than males reported experiencing stalking, sexual harassment, defamation, cyberbullying, sextortion, and cyber mobbing.
Further, 50 per cent of women who had experienced TFGBV reported experiencing it from a perpetrator known to them such as an ex-partner, friend, classmate, family member, online acquaintance, or work/school authority.
This is compared to men where only 29 percent reported similar experiences.
According to the report, cyberbullying and TFGBV can lead to emotional distress including damage to self-esteem and confidence, psychological distress, and even leading to instances of suicidal thoughts or death by suicide.
The report added that respondents aged 18 to 24 identified loss of trust and difficulty forming relationships as significant impacts.
How to stop or protect oneself from cyberbullying
To protect oneself from or stop cyberbullying, you may want to delete certain apps or stay offline for a while to give yourself time to recover.
You can also use the tool designed to filter or empower one to protect their accounts while keeping an eye on a bully.
These include turning on a setting that uses artificial intelligence technology to automatically filter and hide bullying comments intended to harass or upset people.
You can also use restrict as a tool on Facebook or Instagram.
You can also delete their profile or decide who can see it, who can send direct messages or comment on your posts by adjusting your account privacy settings.
You can report hurtful comments, messages and photos and request they be removed.
There is also the option of unfriending and blocking people to stop them from seeing your profile and reaching you.
You can also choose to have comments by certain people appear only to them without completely blocking them.
You can delete posts on your profile or hide them from specific people.