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.

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.

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.

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.

Cyberspace Correlation To Mental Health

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

There has been a relatively sudden drastic increase in the number of young people seeking treatment for mental health problems. It appears this is a direct result of social media and the “digital” culture in general, becoming an integral component of daily life.  In the UK alone, reports say there has been a 25 percent increase in the number of young people being referred for psychological health problems which is rather significant considering this occurred over just the last year. The phenomenon of “future shock,” in which technology outpaces its users, appears to be finally catching up to the human condition. 

Now, digital communication is the norm and has become not only a common activity among young people, but actually a seemingly intrinsic aspect to their DNA.  Today, young people carry out complete relationships online through texting and sexting, developing fewer and fewer traditional face-to-face relationships. It has reached the point that even making voice-calls to others is mostly avoided. This has resulted in a severe vacuum in basic skills of interaction. Interaction that is still necessary in today’s world when it comes to being a productive member of society and also as future parents to the generations following. 

The ever-growing social media platforms are in the process of creating a new global culture in which bullying and harassing our fellow peers has never been easier.

Cyber-Stalking Is Not About Sex

By David Simms, Senior Contributor

The Global Institute for Cyber Safety and Standards 

The psychology of cyber-stalking remains largely misunderstood with many incorrectly assuming it involves an element of sexual obsession. Research findings point to other factors. It is seen as motivated by hostility and aggressive behaviours stemming from power and control issues rather than material gain or sexual obsession. Cyber-stalking is fueled by rage and anger that, in many cases, is triggered by a victim’s action or inaction. The research suggests the number of cyber-stalking incidents will continue to mount, in part, because the internet presently provides a safe-haven in which an offender can theoretically hide and conceal their identity behind a shroud of anonymity. This is one of the primary differences between real-world stalking and that of the cyber-variety. Because these stalkers typically have a high level of computer proficiency and aptitude, they can be more skilled at avoiding or evading detection and therefore, accountability. Also, whereas in traditional stalking cases the offender and victim often live or work within relatively close proximity, cyber-stalkers could be harassing their victim from next door, a library in the next state, or even another country. 

Cyber-stalking rarely involves direct physical contact and so, unfortunately, most police officers intaking reports of this crime tend to minimize their seriousness and dismiss the victim’s fears as a nuisance. This is beginning to change in the UK for example as stricter more serious resolutions are passed, but in the US this is still much the case. In reality, cyber-stalking cases can easily escalate to other more dangerous and disturbed behaviours, some ending in violence and death.

An oft overlooked aspect to cyber-stalking is that it doesn’t necessarily include one perpetrator. Even though most stalkers act alone, the internet has made it much easier for cyber-stalkers to conspire and incite third-parties to harass victims in chat rooms, discussion boards, and other social networking platforms. In fact, researchers have coined the term ”stalking by proxy” to describe the process by which cyber-stalkers lure others such as family members and friends to aid in harassing the victim. Some cyber-stalkers have even been known to hire private investigators to follow and report on the victim’s daily activities and whereabouts. 

There is no doubt cyber-stalking continues to evolve at an astonishing rate in all parts of the world. With each new development in technology, a new avenue for cyber-stalkers opens up. Part of the solution must come from the allowance of law agencies everywhere to use the same technologies being developed, to swiftly identify and act. At current trends, this is becoming vitally necessary – and something, by the way, that supersedes any bickering about free speech as is bandied about so much in America in particular due to their constitutional documents their society is based upon.

By Carolyn Davies, Contributing Content Blogger

Please watch and share this interesting social experiment coming out of Auckland, New Zealand and how it relates to online behaviours. This is a good look at how individuals emotionalise when being insulted or treated kindly.

The question of online behaviours.

By Abigail Clarke: Contributing Content Blogger

I've not been sure what to write about as of late but today thought of the question present when it comes to online behaviours. In this day and age of cyber technology, it's true children are having to deal with a new world even adults are ill equipped to handle.  I did a bit of reading and learned Richard J. Hazler, a professor of counseling education at Penn State University in America stated that children, for the most part, are unable to comprehend the damage their behavioural actions online can cause in the lives of others offline. He said that when it comes to bullying and its consequences, kids simply haven’t fully developed emotionally and that young people behave in such ways because that part of the brain controlling cognitive decision-making is not physiologically completely formed. There does seem to be some truth to this, but I thought it seems to be sidestepping the looming question that if this is indeed the case, why then do we see the same behaviours in adults online?

Either there are many more adults with underdeveloped emotional brains or it is something more fundamental that supersedes emotional development. I'm predisposed to ponder the latter.  Kids can be unusually cruel to one another and it does tie in to the fact that they do not possess the power of empathy, but because adults can be equally if not more vicious when in an online environment, it might have more to do with the detachment factor.  The inability to see direct damage.  In the perspective of many, their ventings are lost in cyber space, falling on deaf ears.  Because they do not see a direct response or reaction, they assume that their remarks don’t have the same effect as if in person. This then doesn’t have a thing to do with emotional development than a lack of understanding of technology.

What Mr. Hazler stated seems to almost allow young people an excuse to behave in these detestable ways.  Should we not be refusing to allow the making of excuses to explain away online abusive behaviours? One does not need to be emotionally developed to be kind to others or to know it is the appropriate course. Do they? I think not.