With horrific stories of online bullying drip feeding through the media, The Cybersmile Foundation is a multi award-winning anti cyberbullying non-profit organization, committed to tackling all forms of online bullying and hate campaigns. Founded in 2010 by the parents of children directly affected by cyberbullying, Cybersmile has grown to become the worlds leading anti cyberbullying non profit organization.

SI talks to CEO Scott Freeman and UN Representative Dora Vrdlovec about the issues of cyberbullying and what Soroptimists can do to help.

 

1.      How is cyberbullying an
international problem?

By
it’s very nature, the internet makes it possible for people all over the world
to communicate. While generally this is a wonderful thing that creates
incredible opportunities, it also provides a platform for bullies to reach
people that they otherwise couldn’t. It is important that authorities and
regulators in different countries are also able to work together to deal with
the problem.

2.      How does cyberbullying relate
to gender? Are there trends that prove gender specific? 

When
a lot of people think about ‘cyberbullying’ the conjured image is that of a
teenage girl. While it certainly is the case that this demographic makes up a
lot of the victims (and perpetrators) of cyberbullying incidents, we deal with
people of all ages, genders and backgrounds who are dealing with online abuse
issues. It really is an incredibly diverse problem to tackle!

3.      How do we define the ‘murky
boundary between offensive online behaviour and freedom of speech’?

We
should be careful not to mistake all unwelcome comments or cases of differing
opinion as bullying or trolling, but there are definitely lines that shouldn’t be
crossed. I think it can be helpful to consider this in terms of what would
be acceptable behaviour in face-to-face situations. Having an opinion is one
thing but directing threatening, cruel or aggressive comments towards an
individual or group is unacceptable.

4.      What should/can we expect
from social networking sites in order to lessen the risks of cyber bullying in
the future?

Social
networking sites will need to be open to taking measures against cyberbullying.
We have found that some platforms are much more proactive than others; for
example, we are working in partnership with Twitter to run our @AskCybersmile
channel – by refusing to shy away from the problem we think Twitter can really
help to set a good example here. We hope that more social networks will follow
their lead and work with organisations such as ourselves to support users.

5.      What more can our Federations and
Club members do to spread awareness?

It’s
fantastic to hear that Soroptomist are interested in spreading awareness of
cyberbullying! We really think that every little helps and a large part is
simply letting people know about the help and resources that are available.
Whether you can tweet about us, write blog posts, hold fundraisers or even
more, we are always grateful for the amazing support that we receive.

6.      What laws are there to
protect people when online? How might/could/should these change?

There
are various laws relating to areas like defamation, hate speech and threatening
behaviour – the difficulty is in legal authorities catching up with technology
and recognising when these should be used. There are new laws being passed at
the moment and we hope that this will be a more developed area in the future.
However, it is very important to note that these laws should be applied
appropriately. For example, the hasty criminalisation of young people who
misuse technology is not something we should necessarily be aiming for. The
most important thing for the online community is emotional education and
awareness to prevent future cyberbullying cases occurring in the first place –
something we are trying to help with through our online education workshops.

7.      How can we educate our
children and young people to be safe online and not become cyber bullies
themselves?

Open
conversation is important – as soon as children are old enough to be using
digital communication, they are old enough to talk about online safety. Teens
should be granted certain levels of trust and freedom in their online
activities and not feel like they’re being spied on, but it is up to everyone
to help teach our young people how to protect and conduct themselves properly
within our own social boundaries. 

Scott
Freeman, Cybersmile CEO

Dora Vrdlovec is a Soroptimist International UN Representative, Vienna, Vice
President of CSW Vienna and works with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), often on the subject of
cyberbullying.

Dora explains: "Cyberbullying
is an increasing global problem, which affects many people including the
vulnerable, young people, women, and girls and their families. It is important
that we understand that this form of abuse, perpetuated through new
technologies, can deeply affect victims. 

Victims can
suffer psychological harm; victims can lose their self-confidence, become
anxious and/or depressed, and may refuse to engage in social situations or
attend school.

Furthermore,
people who have been subjected to cyberbullying, or online abuse, are more
likely to fall prey to criminals and criminal actions, especially sexual abuse.
Due to the sophistication of these criminal methods, it can be very difficult
to identify and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes – but we must keep
trying!

The internet is
hard to regulate, but at the UN, we advocate that abusive images and text
should be removed and made inaccessible to the public. It is also important
that websites and internet providers cooperate with police investigations, and
that the police recognise the seriousness of this abuse.

We must act and
help to empower and enable women, young people, girls and their families to
combat cyberbullying. Families and parents need to be able to recognise the
signs that their child is being cyberbullied. Services must be developed to
provide adequate support that includes facilitating access to legal services
and physical and psycho-social healthcare. It is very important at these
services must provide for the specific needs of women and girls, and that data
must be disaggregated by sex.

Education

Soroptimists
are doing invaluable work in helping to provide specified education, training
and information to girls in schools. Schools can provide a safe environment to
help prevent these kinds of abuse, and even older students are able to help
support younger students. This means that those girls are better able to spot
the warning signs and protect themselves and their friends. This kind of work
is the ‘best practice’ that needs to be reported to the UN – it does make a
difference!"