Social Issues in Information Technology: Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying

- is the use of Information Technology to harm or harass other people in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. According to U.S. Legal Definitions, Cyber-bullying could be limited to posting rumors or gossips about a person in the internet bringing about hatred in other’s minds; or it may go to the extent of personally identifying victims and publishing materials severely defaming and humiliating them.

With the increase in use of these technologies Cyberbullying has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers. Awareness has also risen, due in part to high profile cases like the Suicide of Tyler Clementi.

Legal definition

Cyberbullying is defined in legal glossaries as:

· actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm another or others.

· use of communication technologies for the intention of harming another person

· use of internet service and mobile technologies such as web pages and discussion groups as well as instant messaging or SMS text messaging with the intention of harming another person.

Factors that lead to Cyberbullies

There is no one specific reason for the cyberbullies to occur. But the common reasons suited with Cyberbullies are by races difference, income/status differ, popularity and so on. Above are the graphs shows the factors of cyberbullies occurs.