Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, has stated that if social media firms such as Facebook and Snapchat do not act against online bullying ‘at the source,’ they could have severe fines or a block on their service. Mr Wright has asked if social media services can provide an easier way to report online bullying as soon as it happens so ‘swift action’ can be taken.
Bullying has moved online
Many of us were bullied or saw bullying of some sort back in school, of which, the bullying stayed at school and we moved on. Nowadays, online bullying can be on smart phones therefore, today’s young people carry it around with them 24/7. Due to the alarming amount of cases that involve cyberbullying coming to light in recent years, the government will be appointing a regulator with a power to enforce tough sanctions on companies that fail to provide a duty of care to its users.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) has shown that a third of eleven to sixteen-year-olds have been bullied online and at least once in the last six months; these figures are shocking. We need to protect our children and something must be done sooner rather than later.
