Headlines
Cyber bullying rampant in India, legal vacuum persists
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By Shweta SharmaNew Delhi, April 19
Trishna Saikia (name
changed) could not believe it when her best friend created a fake
profile of her on a social networking site and sent derogatory messages
to common friends in a bid to get back at Saikia for dating a boy she
liked.
"She used my personal images and insulted me on a public forum," the victim related.
Like
Saikia, many young girls and boys fall prey to online abuse and cyber
bullying, which experts describe as "the intentional use of harmful
words to put another person down."
"Cyber bullying is a typical
type of online harassment, which can be defined as hurling harsh, rude,
insulting, teasing remarks through the message box or in open forums
targeting one's body shape and structure, educational qualifications,
professional qualifications, family, gender orientation, personal habits
and outlook," Debarati Halder, advocate and managing director, Centre
for Cyber Victim Counselling, told IANS.
Online abuse was a
larger term that may include cyber bullying, stalking, revenge, online
defamation, leaking of private information and hacking.
"It is that sort of abuse which is carried out with the aid of cyber space," she said.
According
to the 'Tweens, Teens and Technology 2014 Report' by McAfee, 50 percent
of Indian youth have had some experience with cyber-bullying (been
cyber-bullied online or witnessed others being so treated), out of which
one-third (36 percent) have themselves been cyber-bullied.
It
added that of the 33 percent said they have witnessed cyber-bullying of
others, 46 percent said the victims deleted their social media accounts
and 42 percent said the victims became less social, underscoring its
significant emotional impact.
Delhi-based Anja Kovacs, project
director of the Internet Democracy Project, said that the increase seems
to mostly have kept pace with the growth of internet penetration.
"As more and more people have come online, more and more abuse can be seen as well," Kovacs told IANS.
"Bullying
in general, not simply online, is something that schools should take
up. It is important to discuss with young people the harmful effects of
bullying. Even bullies have often been the victim of bullying at some
point in time. Bringing out those experiences can be a valuable starting
point for a conversation about this with children," Kovacs said.
According
to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing)Rajneesh Garg
"we have yet to get any complaint regarding cyber bullying".
"If a
teenager or a juvenile puts any defamatory writing or pornographic
picture on others on Facebook page, this can be dealt with under the
relevant sections of the IT Act," Garg, who also handles cyber crime
cases, told IANS.
"In such a case, a minor is sent to a reformatory home, while a major will have to face a term of around five years," he added.
Sameer
Malhotra, director, Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Max
Hospitals, who treats approximately two to three such cases in a month,
said that the effects on the victim include low self-esteem, depression,
feelings of loneliness/emptiness, anxiety related symptoms and
psychosomatic problems.
one can even be driven to acts of self
harm, anger outbursts, disturbed sleep-wake schedule, paranoia and a
feeling of insecurity.
So, are there no laws that deal with children affected with cyber bullying and online abuse?
"There
is no law that deals with cyber-bullying and online abuse specifically
directed at children, nor should there be. The criminalisation of speech
is only acceptable in a very narrow set of cases, as the Supreme Court
has again stressed in its recent judgment on the Shreya Singhal case
(striking down section 66A of the IT Act). Bullying, as well as verbal
online abuse of women in fact, in many cases does not fall within those
parameters," Kovacs explained.
Because the law "doesn't and
shouldn't apply in so many cases of abuse", non-legal measures to
address the problem should be looked at, she added.
Stressing
that sensitisation was a must, Halder said: "NGO-police and
NGO-stakeholders or expert-stakeholder partnerships are a must. Above
all, government should consider creating good laws regulating bad speech
on the internet."
Noting that 13+ is the age most complaints
come from, Rakshit Tandon, advisor to the cyber crime cell of the
Gurgaon police said many such cases go unreported.
"...or we can
say people are not aware of how and where to report; and many other
factors also stop them from reporting. Awareness, education and cyber
law should be taught to children. (It should be taught) right from the
basic classes as a subject, as we learn moral science which prepares us
for moral values in life same way cyber hygiene/netiquette and digital
moral science should be taught to netizens," Tandon told IANS.
(Shweta Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])