Cyberbullying is bullying online. This encompasses a wide range of harmful behaviours, including on social media, messaging apps and games.
Because of its nature, cyberbullying can be very harmful, as there is little chance to remove yourself from the situation, as opposed to when a child experiences bullying at school, but can feel safe back at home.
example A child’s classmates start inserting specific emojis or pictures under the child’s photo on social media. While it may seem harmless, children sometimes use specific emojis or pictures to highlight certain undesirable features of how a person looks.
The tactics employed in cyberbullying are varied. They can include spreading rumours or false information, sharing embarrassing photos or videos without consent, sending hateful or threatening messages, creating fake profiles to impersonate and harm someone’s reputation, or deliberately excluding individuals from online groups or activities.
What to do in cases of cyberbullying
If you or your child faces cyberbullying, you should save the evidence (messages, comments, pictures and links) where this has happened.
You should report this to the school or other appropriate institution to which the bullies and you, or your child are connected. The school or other institution should carry out a prompt investigation and take disciplinary action if needed. Support services should be offered if available.
example In Lithuania, schools have psychological help available to their students.
For emotional support, you can also reach out to the Child line or the Youth line.
You should also report this to the platform where the cyberbullying took place. Usually, the platforms will have policies in place that prohibit harassment. Often, you also can block the bullies, and you should do so for your or your child’s safety.
Read more about how to complain about the actions of platforms in this Guide.
In more severe cases, you may want to seek help from State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service or the Ombudsperson for Child’s Rights.
Some forms of cyberbullying may also be considered to be criminal offences. In Lithuania, a person can be held criminally responsible from the age of 16 years and in certain cases from the age of 14 years.
example Threatening to kill somebody is a criminal offence. A criminal offence has also been committed where a child has been abused online because of their disability or sexual orientation, as this would often be to be considered hate speech.
If you believe that cyberbullying has resulted in a criminal offence, you can report it to the police.
Read more about how to complain in situations of crimes against children online.