Cyberbullying

In the world we live in today, we utilize the internet to conduct daily tasks. In contrast to the period of our dads and grandfathers, who mostly used media like physical newspapers and radios to obtain information, the majority of us now read our news on our mobile devices.

Globalization has been facilitated by the internet, which has also altered how we trade and how we interact and obtain information.

Similar to what @George_Dee stated in his article titled, "What should we dread more in the future, human or technology?"

He emphasized that technology is only a tool that depends entirely on how humans choose to employ it. When evil or wicked people utilize technology to cause destruction, good people employ the same technology to aid and better the lives of other people. Depending on how they are utilized, each piece of technology has both benefits and drawbacks.

Social media is among this century's most important innovations or creations. Globalization and socializing are also brought about by social media, which has enhanced communication, making it rapid, and all of these things. On the other hand, there are several drawbacks to using social media, just as there are many benefits.

For instance, the usage of social media has made it possible for many unscrupulous characters to defraud others. Fake news is also spreading faster than it has ever done in human history, and I'd want to talk about a brand-new phenomenon called cyberbullying.

The rise of cyberbullying

The Oxford Dictionary describes bullying as the act of attempting to hurt, intimidate, or compel someone.

The majority of bullies prey on their victims by taking advantage of their size, wealth, or position. Since the invention of social media, some have turned to its adaptability to engage in what is known as cyberbullying against others.

Cyberbullying is when someone is harassed, embarrassed, threatened, or intimidated online or through social media.

Cyberbullying may take many various forms, some of which include sending harsh or offensive comments, disseminating false information about another person, posting humiliating images or videos, or creating fake profiles to harass people anonymously.

Cyberbullying versus physical bullying

Although a lot of people think that cyberbullying is less dangerous or detrimental than physical bullying, the fact is that bullying is bullying regardless of the method used to carry it out.

One could argue that cyberbullying is more dangerous than physical bullying due to its ability to be carried out in secret and its quick spread to a much wider audience, both made possible by the internet and social media.

The same negative consequences, such as sadness, low self-esteem, and suicidal thoughts, can frequently be experienced by both physical and cyberbullying victims.

Due to the possibility that victims may become targets as a result of their online forms of abuse, cyberbullying sometimes even escalates into physical bullying.

One of the reasons I decided to write about this topic today is because I have seen an increase in cyberbullying in my nation, which is being caused by the current elections.

Election induced cyberbullying

Some Nigerians experienced cyberbullying long before and during the recently concluded presidential election as a result of the candidates or parties they chose to back.

Many of these individuals were called derogatory names, and some of these individuals were flagged down from their positions of work or business by the same online bullies. Several of them were the subject of false information.

Twitter was the social media site that these cyberbullies utilized the most to abuse those who had opposing opinions or political views to their own. Several false and parody accounts were set up for this purpose. Due to their concern about cyberbullies, a lot of people choose to keep their opinions to themselves and refrain from publicly expressing them.

Yet, a lot of people are unaware that bullying, regardless of the format, is illegal, and that during elections, many utilize cyberbullying to sway public opinion by disseminating false information, rumors, and propaganda. Several people utilize the practice of cyberbullying to damage the reputations of competing politicians and to promote their candidates as respectable.

In conclusion

I believe that any sort of bullying, whether it be physical or online, should not be tolerated regardless of a person's political views and should be addressed seriously by the appropriate authorities.

I believe regulations should be made to handle cyberbullying, and social media corporations should exert greater effort to halt the spread of fake news and deal with any accounts proven to be engaging in cyberbullying.

19-march-2023

12:55 AM

Thanks for reading!