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Increase in Cyberbullying during COVID-19
Cyberbullying is a sort of bullying that takes place over digital devices like mobile phones, computers, tablets etc. It is through SMS, Text, and apps. It may also be through online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about some other person. It can include sharing personal or private information about some other person causing embarrassment or humiliation.
Unfortunately, in India, there is no specific law which addresses ‘cyber-bullying’. We rely on many other provisions of IPC. For eg:- Section 499, Section 292A, Section 354A, Section 354D, Section 507 and Section 509. The above mentioned provisions of the Indian Penal Code is not complete, but cyberbullying can be brought under these provisions of law. Even under the Information Technology Act, 2000, there exists no specific provision related to cyber-bullying.
Now, we know that the whole country, in fact the worldwide people is under quarantine or self-isolation. People engage themselves in all sorts of activities. This happens because they don’t want to sit doing nothing. Well many people bring out their talent during these days and it's very good to see the hidden talent of people who never had a time for themselves during the pre-quarantine time.
But the most awful sight is that many people are exploiting the freedom they got during this time. Just because they have nothing to do, many people find fun in cyberbullying. Especially young people are being vulnerable to sexual exploitation, cyberbullying, online harassment and exposure to harmful and violent content.
According to UN Women, in the US, 2 out of 10 young women have been sexually harassed online. Also 1 in 2 young women say they were sent unwarranted explicit images.
In India we see a lot of incidents in social media where people start new pages using a fake account. They hack other people's accounts and bullies the account owner.
According to the FBI, instances of cybercrimes have increased upto 300 percent since the coronavirus pandemic. Many people find it fun to sexually harass and bully a woman irrespective of their age. Once the lockdown began, people were not able to bully in person and they have started bullying through social media.
Young girls are more victimised to cyberbullying. This is because women having a sufficient maturity know how to react to such issues. They know that whatever happens, law is there with them. But these young girls just because they are afraid of their family or thinking of the shame it would cause, they listen to what these predators say. For this parents and relatives must have a friendly approach with girls so that they can share it with them without any fear. They must know that they are not to be blamed for such practises and that the culprits should face the law.
It is necessary that we must have a strong law on cyber bullying. It is a shame to say that we don’t have laws regarding cyberbullying.
