Ismaila suleiman
P16224472
How social media Regulates Cyber-Violence against girls and adolescent females.
The aim of this work is to define and explore in-depth, the topic, HOW SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATES CYBER-VIOLENCE. Due to the emergence of the internet and rapid spread of information from the mobile, this has then lead to the bringing about of cyber-violence which could also be known as Cyber-Bullying.
Cyber violence, could be referred to as a form of online harassment or bullying through using the electronic media. Over the years, as technologies developed and social-media applications surfaced, there has been a rapid increase of cyber-bullying.
“In a survey by Ditch the label, 47% of young people who took the survey have been bullied online. (bullying.co.uk)”.
Given the limited scope of this piece, i will focus solely on social media and cyber-bullying against girls and adolescent females, so as to gain a more in-depth insight in this area. Nonetheless, i am conscious of the fact that there are other types of media that tackle cyber-bullying. Some examples of these other Media that tackle cyber violence are
Print Media which consists of Newspapers and Magazines, Another type of media is also broadcast media, Support media, outdoor and transit advertising which consists of Billboards, movie theatre Ads, hot air balloons and Blimps, instant coupon machines. There is also one called Internet Media, which consists of Website, Ecommerce, Online Ads and Emails. These are all other forms/type of media, but like i said prior to giving these examples, i would focus solely on social media, I would focus more on social media because it relates more to the question above.
Most of the apps and social networking sites are mainly for individuals aged 13 and over. It is also stated by the applications and social networking sites that Bullying, Abusive Behaviours, which may include impersonation of an individual, harassment and identity theft are strongly frowned upon. (bullying.co.uk. 2018)
It has also been found out that women are the ,major victims of Cyber Violence. From the statistical data in the European Union (EU), females who happen to fall in the age range of 15 are mainly victims of Cyber Violence. (Eige.europa.EU. 2018)
Although, Results from a national bullying survey, displays that 91% of individuals who reported cases of Cyberbullying said that there was no action whatsoever that was taken after their complaint was filed. This can most definitely leave users feeling disbelieved, vulnerable and it could eventually knock off their self esteem and lead them straight into depression.
“It has been said that too much off everything is not good” , as there is presently no limited access to social media, Access to the internet is now becoming a must have for economic well-being in the society we live in, it is now seen as a fundamental human right to everyone, so therefore, it is significant to make sure that the digital public space in which we have given everyone and anyone a voice to speak and be themselves, would be a safe place,that would also be empowering for individuals most especially women and girls, in order to avoid another case of Cyberbullying.
Regulations have already been put in place, by social media sites/platforms to report incidents that are classified as Cyberbullying. However , how they are assessed and evaluated are a bone of contention.
There are ways on how to report bullying or abuse on social media. For example on Facebook. They have created community standards which individuals attach to and those standards states that things which will not be tolerated, go as follows;
-images that are changed to humiliate private individual facebook users.
-sharing personal information to blackmail people.
-sharing personal information to harass people and also
-Photos or videos of physical bullying which was posted to Embarrass a victim.
If any of these happen to any individual on facebook, facebook has made it easier to report cases like these by just using the report links made available on facebook.
Twitter is also taking steps in making their social media platform a safe and conducive space for their users, so if any content or case of cyberbullying, comes about you can swiftly unfollow, the individual or remove the content , from your timeline. There are also advice pages, so when you see someone getting bullied online, it is possible for you to report it for them.
Cyberbullying is not left out on instagram , this could happen,
-through being trolled via the comment section
-receiving negative comments on your posts and so on.
Another way in which an individual could be bullied on instagram is
-Through fake profiles/accounts, following your page and stalking you and also dropping negative comments.
Instagram has made it possible to report the account or also report the comment, they have also created the Block icon which you can use to Ban people from your profile.
Snapchat, which is a social media platform that allows individuals to send pictures and videos for a specific amount of time, in which the time has been set by the snapchat user, Cyberbullying is not left out on snapchat, these could happen when
-Screenshots are taken and then used to blackmail the victim.
-Sending of peoples stories to another snapchat user to make fun of them
-also negative comments and so on and so forth.
To avoid being in a situation like this snapchat has made a Block and Remove button to remove people who are most likely cyberbullies.
You can also remove the individual from your contact list, it is also very possible to make your account private in order for people to not be able to send and see your posts unless you grant them access.
Whatsapp Messenger is probably one of the most popular social media platforms. This application, allows you to send messages, make voice calls and video calls instantly. So therefore there is room for cyberbullying on this platform because it is a messaging platform. Cyberbullying could take place on whatsapp
-by receiving threatening messages,
-by receiving unwanted or anonymous calls
-by people taking profile pictures and using it to make fun of the individual on another platform.
On the whatsapp messaging platform, it is definitely possible for you to contact support@whatsapp.com and to possibly block and delete unwanted contacts.
But still, with all the regulations that have been named prior to this paragh there is still a rapid growth of Cyberbullying cases most especially against women.
Violence against women and girls(VAWG) is one of the most widespread human rights abuses, affecting on average one in three women and girls worldwide. (Actionaid.org.uk.) Cyberbullying has a negative impact on the lives of women and girls as well as on the society. Cyberbullying is a crucial factor which leads to Psychological and emotional distress in the life of the individual. Kids who have gone through Cyberbullying are suffering from anxiety, depression, fear and also low self esteem, this notion was argued by Gualdo et al (2015).
Cyberbullying could also be a great Danger to anyone who is a victim and affect their academic career and lead them to not doing well in class and eventually failure.
When a woman has been bullied online, it could leave her feeling Vulnerable and Powerless which could then make them feel the need to take drugs or get drunk, so that would help them take the feeling of vulnerability away.
VAWG could also lead to increase of crime rate in a society, for example if a victim has been made fun of for not having the latest fashion trend item, lets say a big branded bag, the victim could then feel the need to go and take part in fraudulent activities in order to get the item in which she was mocked for not having. These are things cyber bullying can lead to. As argued by Nixon (2014), Cyberbullying is a crime that affects the lifestyle of the individuals and the trend of the culture of the society.
Cyberbullying builds a negative image of the individual in the society, which causes social exclusion (Slonie et al. 2017).
Social exclusion is both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in the usual sense. Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that others enjoy. (Brainly.In/question/2618851)
This then makes the women, feel ugly and neglected, because they have been bullied about something, they would not have the courage to speak to anyone about, because they have been mocked. This then creates an image in other individuals eyes in the society, that the victim is ‘stuck up’, ‘snobbish’, or even as far as looking like ‘weirdos’, but in actual sense they just do not feel safe anymore.
Likewise this is very feasible to happen on social media platforms, social exclusion is not just attached to the society, it is also attainable on social media. In the sense that the victim would be excluded from group chats, the victim could also be removed from individuals friend list and this could then make the victim seem like an ‘outcast’ on social media.
References.
ActionAid UK. (2018). Violence against women and girls (VAWG). [online] Available at: https://www.actionaid.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/violence-against-women-and-girls-vawg [Accessed 22 Nov. 2018].
Bullying.co.uk. (2018). Bullying on social networks – Family Lives. [online] Available at: https://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/what-to-do-if-you-re-being-bullied-on-a-social-network/ [Accessed 22 Nov. 2018].
EIGE. (2018). Cyber violence against women. [online] Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/eiges-studies-gender-based-violence/cyber-violence-against-women [Accessed 22 Nov. 2018].
Pashang, S., Clarke, J., Khanlou, N. and Degendorfer, K., 2018. Redefining Cyber Sexual Violence Against Emerging Young Women: Toward Conceptual Clarity. In Today’s Youth and Mental Health (pp. 77-97). Springer, Cham.
Thepsychologist.bps.org.uk. (2018). Social exclusion – so much more than poverty | The Psychologist. [online] Available at: https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-23/edition-1/social-exclusion-–-so-much-more-poverty [Accessed 22 Nov. 2018].