Ending A Climate of Apathy

By David Simms, Senior Contributor

The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

It is known that people holding high positions in organisations such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google are less likely to have firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be harassed online. This establishes a climate of apathy by these individuals when it comes to making progress in resolving the issue. When one experiences something firsthand it inevitably impacts their perspective driving how and how often they are inclined to think about it.

For instance, the legal director at Scribd, Jason Bentley, changed his views about online harassment after someone he had banned from the platform decided to target his personal life.  The harasser made claims on sites such as Scribd, Craigslist, and Ripoff Report, that Bentley was guilty of raping his own daughter. The obvious result was Bently’s name therefore becoming prominently associated with these claims on Google’s search engine. He took action and pursued the individuals responsible with legal action. He commented in an interview about the ordeal and committed that he will do everything in his power to stop these online abuses against others as well in going forward. However, obviously there are far more people not in positions of power and who cannot afford legal recourse, yet suffer the same. Unfortunately, they become part of the ever growing population that has no way of escaping from their aggressors. One sure way to see positive change occur is for those at the helm of the social media to be subjected to the same relentless obscene nature of what is occurring in their own platforms. Certainly I do not intend to convey I would wish it upon them, rather to make the point that I do believe the destructive consequences of internet abuse and harassment would come to an end quite quickly.   

Parental Involvement Key In Decreasing Cyber-Harrassing Incidences

By David Simms, Senior Contributor
The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

Recent trends in youth cyber-bullying indicate a sharp decrease in large cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, where research shows greater parental involvement. This is ironically contrasted with increased social media penetration in smaller towns where generally less parental control is reported.

It seems there is a rather strong correlation between parents having free and clear access to their children’s accounts, and a trend of less reported incidents of cyber-bullying behaviours. Experts are calling this an indicator that knowledge of one’s parents monitoring actions online is enough to deter most young people from instigating or participating in bullying and other harrassment behaviours. They stretch further to suggest adults would react quite similarly – refraining from cyber-harassment activity – under like circumstances and with the impending sense of consequences for their actions.  

Children fear immediate repercussions from their parents and are under their authority. In most Indian households parental authority is respected and abided by. However, in the adult world, the authority structure necessarily shifts to allow for more autonomy and rights such as privacy. This is so because there is an expectation of maturity and awareness of one’s actions. Interestingly however, the same bully-like behaviours experienced online by children are also seen in adults. It is alarmingly common to see child-like immaturity in many adults who, under the right circumstances, will act out as reckless children. Unfortunately, it takes a sense of consequence and threat of punishment to quell these destructive behaviours for both young and old.  

One key problem arises when right-to-privacy issues come to bear. Whereas children have little privacy with their parents as the monitoring authority and wielders of discipline, adults have ample rights to privacy and with no monitoring, especially on the Internet. It seems for adults a better balance must be struck between reasonable monitoring and the complete lack thereof. Until this happens, there is no doubt the problem of cyber-harassment and all its forms and degrees will continue on indefinitely creating further victim hazard and tangible loss and impeding authorities from dispensing appropriate justice. Much has been done to combat the issues of internet safety and these destructive behaviours but until the safety and standards community stops chipping away at the surface consequences and begins to address the underlying causes and ways to cut them off at the pass, we can expect to boast little about any true degree of change leading to a safer online navigation for users trusting they will be safe when logging on. 

Online addiction is no excuse and never will be.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

It has come out lately that more and more mental health administrators are recognising internet addiction as a legitimate condition. Fine. Are they only getting to this now? Yes. The internet is still a fairly new phenomenon but even I could put the dots together to call this one is it really that much a surprise? British doctors are describing those suffering from online addictions as people who have lost touch with the real world through social networks and websites. Really? They say addiction behaviours are much more common than most of us realise and that temptations to overindulge in one’s compulsions are always there for every one of us. Talk about poppycock confusing the issues and it sounds like the granting of excuses and condolences to dangerous individuals who have the power to choose not to do what they do. I refuse to accept that. Giving people an excuse to harm others is empowering to them and only works to increase the explosion of sick behaviours we are already experiencing. Victims of sick online people are seeing lives ruined and committing suicide!

Cyberharassment is the only type of addiction, if you call it that, where the behaviour is focused on harming others, not the behaviour harming the addicted. There is no doubt a phenomenon exists that is going on en masse, but I don’t believe it is an addiction per se and if it really is it can NEVER be used as an excuse or tool to help the violators get off legally from what they do to someone else. I believe what we are seeing is spawned by a new generation incapable of forming normal healthy relationships away from a screen. Look at the world today, much among youth, do they talk on the phone? No. They text. They carry out whole relationships in text. To now label online abusive behaviour as an addiction could dangerously cause more grief going forward. We should be wise to not begin educating the public that this is an addiction issue, rather the unveiling of what has been there all along which is that piece of human nature that finds fascination in seeing others suffer and is willing to harm others for nothing more than a cheap thrill and power trip.

It won't happen to me. Don't count on it.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

There is a new study released from Nottingham Trent University revealing peculiarity in how internet users look at the seriousness of cyberbullying. Young people are aware of the ongoing problem of cyberbullying, indeed yes, but the large majority perceive others being more at risk than themselves. Strange, isn't it? Interesting here that young women tend toward holding this view much more than do men. Even stranger to me. This is a perfect example isn't it of what is fueling the problem to begin with? Most people don’t realise the damage this activity causes others. Most, especially those of younger age, are preprogrammed to think they are invulnerable and that the problem will not affect them. How could this be that our young people aren't being schooled about the risks to themselves? That is a lacking in proper education and responsible advisement on internet etiquette.

This makes them either a great candidate to dish out cyberbullying or harassment without regard to other’s feelings, or the unsuspecting victim whose life is gutted because this sort of thing ‘just couldn’t happen to them’! This should be an indication that raising awareness of cyberbullying and the like, cannot end merely with showing people the statistics of what is going on, but needs to also address a more basic schooling of self-awareness. People generally have a keen misperception of how they are perceived by others and what impacts they have on those around them. To fully engage the problem and move closer to a solution, those of the younger generation especially must be educated on the psychology of realistic awareness of self. By being absorbed into the virtual world of social media as much as they are it is no wonder there is a growing separation between what is real and what is not. It is also true that girls tend to view the world in a more romantic sense which coincides with females more often falling victim to cyber-attacks, and to be fair, the reason there are a larger number of female perpetrators of cyber harassment per se. This very important research is screaming the demon loud and clear that there is more than meets the eye in this very human problem. Think about it parents and educators. If we're not teaching young people in a way that sticks that it can happen to them how can they be expected to understand what happens to others?

Cyberstalking Documentary

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Blogger

This is an excellent cyberstalking documentary via the Crime and Investigation channel based in UK. It's nearly an hour long video but full of important information and specific stories about cyberstalking experiences. I would encourage everyone to watch it and use it to open discussions with young people in the guidance for their digital safety.

Twitter Takes Another Step To Protecting Users

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Blogger

Hello, Twitter has been in the news as of late with its plans to crack down on cyberbullies and other internet abusers. Now they have taken another positive step in helping bridge victims between online reporting and real realm reporting to law enforcement officers. They are provide a new option in their Block and Report feature which enables victims to print off a police report to submit in their area.

Here is an article write up discussing the new measure and showing examples of how it will work in action. Please share this with others so they will be aware of the new feature.

http://www.itproportal.com/2015/03/19/twitter-tackle-cyberbullying-print-police-report-option/

Twitter CEO Says They Suck At Dealing With Trolls, But That's About To Change

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Blogger

Finally the social media giant Twitter is taking action. Last month, their CEO, Dick Costolo took personal responsibility after the platform came under scrutiny for their role in the rampancy of cyber abusers leveraging their free and anonymous service as a tool to abuse and draw harm to targeted victims. Some of those victims committing suicide in response to the abuse and public humiliation received. In his own words, Mr. Costolo sent a memo to Twitter employees. He says: 

"We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years. It's no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.

I'm frankly ashamed of how poorly we've dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It's absurd. There's no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing.

We're going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them. Everybody on the leadership team knows this is vital."

I am giving you the link for the full article. This is a big step for the company and can only lead to more and more improvement in online safety.

http://mashable.com/2015/02/04/twitter-ceo-trolls/

Swatting -- Another New Form of Harassment On Rise

By David Simms, Senior Contributor
The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

A new trend in cyber harassment is something called swatting. This assault occurs when a harasser anonymously files a false police report such as a bomb threat, murder, or other crime in progress for the purpose of provoking the police to raid a victim’s home or business. Although it is considered a harmless way to have “fun” by many younger people, they are in for a sore surprise as it has recently cost one teenager much more than he bargained for. 15-year-old Paul Horner broke down in tears after a judge found him guilty on two counts of domestic terrorism and was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in a United States prison. He is the first person in history to be charged with swatting. In this case, he was found guilty of calling in multiple false threats against rival internet gamers, all resulting in police action that placed individuals in harms way as raids were carried out.  

Swatting is a new fad among gamers targeting those who broadcast themselves and their game play live over the internet to game rivals. It is common for online games to become very competitive, often leading to escalating adverse behaviours. If an internet harasser is able to obtain personal information of their rival or anyone they have a problem with, such as locating their IP and residential address, they will call in a dangerous threat to law enforcement and watch, if possible, on webcams as the victim’s house is forcibly entered by police. Law enforcement agencies say the crime, which has been happening with greater frequency since 2013, wastes valuable resources and places innocent people at risk. Unfortunately, this crime has gone largely unpunished, a fact which seems to encourage more of the same behaviours. However, with the prosecution of the teenager in the above mentioned case, it is sending the message that people will be held substantially accountable for their digital actions.

Video: Cyber Harassment and Cyber Stalking: The New Frontier of Civil Rights in the Twenty-First Century

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Content Blogger

Hello, I've discovered and am sharing a lengthy but worthy video from Case University School of Law in the US. The first 10 minutes are background room noise with no speaker so fast forward your cursor prompt to roughly 9:45 inwards for the main introduction and 15:26 for the true start.The video discussion seminar is Cyber Harassment and Cyber Stalking: The New Frontier of Civil Rights in the Twenty-First Century. It's a bit dry but worth viewing. Raised are important questions facing us today and in the future with civil rights or free speech and how it bands to the legal processes not only in the US but around the democratic world.

Cyberharrassment and bullying is not a myth.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

I happened upon an article the other day trying to downplay cyberharassment and bullying. It claimed to be dispelling cyber harassment myths as if these myths were recognised as established. Not so. The article asserted that one of the most common myths is people being turned into cyberbullies by using social media. To me, this seems absurd. Of course nobody is claiming social media itself creates cyberbullies. The creation of a cyberbully mentality starts well before someone becomes acquainted with social media.  Social media is merely the conduit, not the cause.  The article then went on to make the token reassurance that there aren’t as many cyber harassers on the web as it may seem and that a “techno-panic” has been created to give people the impression the problem is much worse than it actually is. Well I disagree. The problem is indeed much worse than most realise and we are seeing dramatic increases in activity not the reverse.  This appears to be more due to the ease at which the Internet can be accessed these days as well as the amount of personal information available that can be exploited against victims.  It is also due to the pervasive element of anonymity that is intrinsic to the nature of online activity. The ability to express latent anger and rage at others without accountability, creates the cyberharasser, not the websites hosting it.  This is not to say social media sites are free from blame, they are enabling the problem.  But we definitely mustn’t be lulled into thinking cyber harassment is not as bad as it seems.  It most certainly is, which most people having any experience on social media can tell you.  

Memes aren't always humorous.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

Do you know what a meme is? You see them every day of your facebooks and twitters. A meme is an image, video, or piece of text, typically copied, modified and then circulated about rapidly throughout the internet. These can be humorous I must admit but they also can be used for much damage and hurt. It's an all too common practice for cyberbullies to use memes based around harassment, bigotry, and general mean spiritedness. This cuts into the problem of anonymity, which allows these bully types to be far more willing to engage in aggressive hurtful behaviours for the sole purpose of embarrassing and humiliating a targeted person. 

If you ask me people who generate memes derive from an immature ilk. Only immature and mean-spirited individuals are capable of conceiving and then using such a mode to taunt and make fun of others in very lewd and crude ways. For example it is common for a cyber harasser to cut and paste the image of a target person’s face to that of an animal, object, other person, or to place their photo in the context of something sexually explicit and humiliating.  This is along the same lines as revenge porn but usually always in a mocking and sick joke kind of way. The downside to it all is the fact that memes are very popular.  Why? Because there are just as many immature people out there who will give audience to them. We should all take a lesson from this. What if the memed individual was a dear friend or a close member of your family? What if it were your child or parent?  The fact is cyber harassment of any kind degrades human integrity and chips away at the spirit.  Though it is a certainty immature cyber harassers and bullies will continue to harm others online, the rest of us should not condone by giving audience.  To do so makes us no better than the mob. 

A Society Dictating Moral Order Online Is A Vigilante Society Of Lawlessness

By David Simms, Senior Contributor
The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

There is a perspective floating around whereby cyber-bullying on social media is viewed as the result of society’s desire to create moral order online. In certain parts of the world shaming others for their mistakes by identifying what is morally right or wrong gives the ability for internet users to shape social codes and force conformity. A graduate student in Yogyakarta Indonesia faced the wrath of thousands of social media users after tweeting negative angry statements about petrol station staff in the city. People rallied together online demanding the student be banished from the province for her demeaning comments. As a result, police arrested her on defamation charges under the controversial Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) law established in that country.  Another case involved a commuting female worker complaining online about how pregnant women always get a seat wherever they board. In just a matter of hours, her post went viral and she faced a chorus of condemnation.

Countries such as Indonesia where ethnic and religious sentiments are very present in the social fabric of society, tend to see much more group mob-like behaviour when it comes to defending cultural or religious practices.  This drives people to utilise social media as a tool to criticise others they see as breaching the moral code. But is it right?

Contrastingly, a recent study by Pew Research Centre revealed that social media actually works to silence public debate in the United States. The study found Americans tend to not voice their opinions in social media, especially when they feel that their opinion is different from popular views.

Regardless of how you look at the issue, using the online platform to harass others into conformity or bash them because they disagree with prevailing views is wrong. This is not to say people should voice scathing negative opinions without considering the impacts of their statements on others. The bottom line is we should all be kinder and more conscientious when it comes to any online interaction. We must always consider how our comments will be taken but we must also restrain from taking up torches to silence others we disagree with.

A society dictating moral order online is a vigilante society of lawlessness and of that we should be very aware and concerned.

Cyber harassment is not a patch problem.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

I've always been of the mind it's a mistake to approach the fixing of any problem from the outside in.  How many times have we seen the patch method applied to anything from relationships to government policy? We do this time and again even though we know truly solving any problem is to deal with it at its root! The same concept applies to that of cyber harassment. General beliefs of legislators are to handle the issue by passing new laws and laws are beginning to pop up everywhere. Having good laws in place restricting or at least discouraging the criminal actions of those who harm others on the Internet is a proper and necessary thing to do. A framework and structure is quite necessary but this is merely a step toward the solution. 

A complete solution can only occur when in conjunction with laws cyber harassment is addressed in the home. It starts firstly with the parents and should be reinforced by those adults managing young people in educational systems. The real solution to this problem requires an overhaul in the thinking of young people or what you might say a reprogramming of human interaction. It's here where the consistent teaching and encouragement of empathy for others comes in.  It's also important to keep communication open assuring young people they are safe to tell about what is going on. 

I shouldn't have to tell parents or other adults to demonstrate by example!  It's well known that young people from all cultures observe adults in the home and use these observations as the framework for their own beliefs and behaviours. This is not a patch fix,so let’s not get caught in the mind trap of thinking it is.

What Constitutes Cyber Harassment and Bullying

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Content Blogger

Very informative video from law professor Patrick Corbett on what exactly constitutes cyber harassment and bullying in the state of Michigan USA. These precise definitions are much the same in most of the United States and elsewhere. 

Female Bullying vs. Male Bullying Behaviours

By David Simms, Senior Contributor

The Global Institute of Cyber Safety and Standards 

There is a general misconception that aggressive bullying behaviours online are primarily instigated and carried out by males, however this is not accurate.  Female bullying has been found to be especially dominant particularly when it comes to verbal and psychological torment in a cyber context. Although females are also responsible for physical bullying, it is drastically less likely to occur in-person as compared to the Internet. 

A common misunderstanding held by many is that verbal abuse online is relatively harmless and therefore, until recently, has been categorised and dealt with as a trivial matter.  However, to the contrary, scientific research shows that virtual harassment in the form of name calling, rumour spreading, threats, ostracising from groups, and the creating of false realities online, have a definite tangible and physical effect on victims, a fact that is fortunately, albeit slowly, being recognised as a legitimate issue among law enforcement agencies in countries around the world.

Females also tend to partake in online mobbing behaviours. Whereas males traditionally act alone in their aggression, females will often incite others in their group to gang up on a victim, typically another female.  Unfortunately, as the issue of online harassment and bullying is gaining more notice, males are being shown in PSAs and other raising-of-awareness articles and videos, to be the primary instigators. This is not to say that male involvement in online harassment shouldn’t be treated with the same seriousness; male aggression online is known to escalate to physical confrontations much more often than females.  However it is important to recognise that as the cyber harassment issue evolves, we must be mindful that it is much more complex than previously thought, and therefore should be dealt with in a fair and comprehensive fashion.

Phishing Has Surpassed Financially Oriented Aims

By David Simms, Senior Contributor

The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

The familiar topic of Phishing has gained a higher profile in the world of cyber-stalking and for good reason. This online crime is a form of social engineering in which the attacker attempts to acquire sensitive information from a victim by insidiously charading as a harmless third party. Internet users need to be alert and aware that this is a particularly dangerous type of cyber-stalking in that it can initially appear overwhelmingly innocuous. Such attackers aim to craft the most convincing illusion that they can be trusted, often posing as sympathetic friends or even as legitimate-looking businesses or professionals. They then use acquired information to begin or further escalate a cyber-harassment attack. Often the end result is the extortion of money, blackmail, or simply humiliating and shaming a victim to the outcome of suicide. Sometimes a phisher will use urgent warnings or project themselves as trying to protect the target by giving false information of an impending threat or attack. In any case, these menacing individuals are devious and ultimately will deceive, take from, harm, or damage a victim to acquire gain.

It is important for people to understand that Phishing has been traditionally associated as a cyber-crime term with offenders primarily going after banking information, passwords, and credit cards. Most of us already know to be on high alert when receiving emails or attachments requesting we furnish our private details. However, Phishing has surpassed such financially oriented aims and adapted into a lethal form of cyber-harassment and stalking. Both sides of this coin need discussing.

Doxing poses real dangers to online victims.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

A mere days ago I heard about a doxing incident. It wasn't named for what it was in the press of course! You would have to live in a bog to have missed the news. The story involved a situation where a woman claimed to have been gang raped. She took her story to Rolling Stone magazine who decided to publish it. The doxing came about when a blogger dug into the woman’s past finding her real name and other personal information which he used to threaten and intimidate her with. To justify his illegal degree of privacy invasion he claimed to be a vigilante of the truth and told her that he would post her personal information unless she admitted the story was false. He posted the information about her anyway.

Doxing is the activity of obtaining publicly listed or private information about a person to then use as a leverage of threat against them. Yes it was proven that the Rolling Stone story was indeed false, the larger point I want to make is the way which it was exposed. The privacy invasion, pressuring or intimidation of anyone, regardless of their alleged offense, should never be executed in the manner it was in this circumstance. This is cyber harassment in disguise and the blogger a cyber bullying criminal.

I was always taught that two wrongs don’t make a right!  What this blogger achieved was not a win for some kind of good. It was a strong message condoning the practice of ransoming a person’s private information and intimidating them. Using the internet to muscle people about or violate their privacy for your own means or gains, even under some alleged cause, is not an act of integrity or one any of us should applaud. Doxing is a crime and crimes should be punished!

What happens when social media forums are used for credible threats?

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

Quite recently, the Supreme Court in the US heard a case concerning what exactly constitutes a threat made through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. A man was sentenced to 44 months in prison for making credible threats toward his ex-wife over Facebook and properly so in my view of things. What maddens me is this bit. This man somehow caught the ear of the high court in the states who were willing to hear his case as to why his sentence was wrong. Pardon? This was allowed? There should be no interpretation about the matter. We already know that threats made online are often carried out in the real world. People are killed or injured. Despite the reality scare, in court it was argued under the US Constitution and federal threat statute that a jury there must not only find that a reasonable person would interpret words seen online as threatening but that the harasser actually intended the words to be threatening. This sounds like picking at horse hairs to me. The man who made the threats that were identified at the time as credible, in court tried to say of course he was “joking” around and just having a bit of “venting” so that he never intended to act on any of the statements he made. What else might he say when trying to get off a 44 month prison sentence? Assuming for a moment that he was really just joking it wasn't taken that way by his ex-wife who experienced mental trauma as a woman. She knew him, had been married to him, and knew well and firsthand of his violent tendencies and behaviours. Therefore these threats were credible and an ongoing demonstration of the abuse she'd already endured in the marriage. The US Supreme Court is set to make a ruling on this case this year but what really is there to consider in this case? Using social media in the way this man did is another method of cyber stalking and should be treated as such.

Cyber-Stalking Has No Group Boundaries

By David Simms, Senior Contributor

The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards

Cyber-stalking is generally not a gender, cultural, or other group-specific phenomenon. It can be inflicted by anybody with an internet connection and can be received by anybody via the same. Whether the stalker has a particular personal grudge against their target or they enjoy the psychological high and sense of control they experience when damaging and harassing the lives of others they don’t know or have a personal connection to has no bearing on propensity toward any one group over another.

The latest statistics show that cyber-harassment is experienced almost equally among all groups. There are also interesting statistics showing people who have recently moved from one country to another, or whose parents are immigrants to a new country, experience a slightly higher frequency of internet harassment. Many in this group are also more likely to be perpetrators of the bullying and harassment. It is speculated that this has something to do with being a defense mechanism to preempt attacks against themselves.

Anti-Bullying short

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Content Blogger

The video I post below does not mention cyber abusements but I thought it important to share. We know in youth, cyber-bullying and cyber-harassment behaviours will often begin as seeds planted at primary or secondary school. Reminding ourselves of this is of some importance. Youth learn to interact with their society and culture at school, and that includes social boundaries and behaviours that will expand to their internet experience. This reminds us of the need to address bullying in all forms for school age children in all countries as a proactive measure against later abusements that would evolve to their online behaviours. Please share this important reminder.