Today's news is filled with a growing number of stories about how we can protect ourselves from being sucked into the dark side of all things digital. Tips, advice, tools, and software are offered to make sure you and your loved ones are cybersafe. Additionally, everyone who has any type of digital footprint is in a position in which they could one day find themselves the victim of online bullying. DoSomething found back in 2018 that about 37% of children ages 12–17 were cyberbullied. Adults are targeted too—by stalkers and extremist groups. We hear about seniors who are tricked into emptying their bank accounts to a cyberbully.

Cyberbullying affects girls more than boys, according to DoSomething. We’re also seeing recent examples of women facing it. During the Paris Olympics in August, Algerian boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif sued Tesla co-founder Elon Musk and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling for “alleged acts of aggravated cyber harassment,” reports Rolling Stone. In April, the European Parliament passed a sweeping law that protects women in the 27-nation European Union from gender-based violence, forced marriages, female genital mutilation, and, you guessed it, online harassment.

In this column, I’ve compiled types of cyberbullying, what to do in the aftermath of it, suggestions on how you can stop it (and potentially avoid it), and other resources to help protect yourself and your loved ones from this problem.

TYPES OF CYBERBULLYING

Malay Mail shares input from experts about different types of online bullying. They include the following:

• Trolling—posting inflammatory or hateful messages to deliberately provoke and trigger emotional reactions
• Impersonation—when someone pretends to be someone else, or someone they’ve made up, to post hurtful and embarrassing content
• Doxxing—when private information or information that identifies an individual is published without their consent, often with malicious purposes
• Cyberstalking—when someone repeatedly sends unwanted messages or threats, usually to someone they know

THE AFTERMATH

Cyberbullying can not only cause brief embarrassment, but it can also lead to long-term consequences such as a negative financial impact, a loss of a job or professional status, and/or what most people face following any type of bullying: mental and emotional challenges. ChoosingTherapy.com, a website dedicated to creating evidence-based mental health articles, reports that after being cyberbullied, people can experience anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, disruption in sleeping, eating disorders, hypervigilance and paranoia, low self-esteem, and even self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Children may experience a disruption in their learning and coping skills.

HOW TO STOP IT AND AVOID IT

The best advice I can share with anyone, of any age, is to be sure you know enough about cybersecurity and internet safety to protect yourself. The internet is a great tool for anyone, but is always changing and expanding—meaning it is important to stay on top of what is going on in cyberspace. Here are some tips I’ve gleaned from various research I’ve done on cyberbullying:

• Educate yourself. Whenever you hear someone talking about staying safe online, pay attention. It’s better to know how bullies navigate their “schoolyard” online.
• Keep it PG, especially when it comes to posting photos. I’m even talking about the ones you send via Messenger, text, and/or DM to someone thinking the conversation is only between you two. That may be the case when they are sent, but you never know when that could change. And deleting a photo after the fact may be futile if the recipient has already made a copy of it.
• Strangers are called that for a reason. If you receive an unsolicited email, text, or message anywhere online; if you don’t know someone and can’t verify their identity with a quick check with a friend or via Google; if an email seems too good to be true; if you hover over a link in a message and it doesn’t match where it says it is from; if you get a new friend request from someone you are already friends with; or if a random someone messages you with a simple “hi” and nothing else, delete, block, and/or report them.
• Before you respond to a post of any kind, pause and make sure you aren’t being hurtful or insensitive to anyone who may read it. Misunderstandings and miscommunications can sometimes spiral out of control quickly.
• Set up privacy controls. You may think you are only sharing posts with friends and acquaintances, but if your accounts are not set up correctly, some of your content may be public and can be found with a simple web search.
• Always, always protect your passwords by not sharing them and by making sure each one is unique. (You can learn more about password protection in last issue’s column.)
• Regularly Google yourself—and search your name on various other search engines, even the ones you don’t use—so you know what’s being written about you online. Request for any personal information you find to be taken down.
• Practice what you preach. It’s easy to react quickly when you’re hiding behind a computer screen and someone has upset you or said something with which you don’t agree. Don’t take the bait!

PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR LOVED ONES

A great source I found for comprehensive information on cyberbullying is Kids Helpline. It was created with young people in mind, but I think it could be a big help for anyone, regardless of age. Additional resources to help everyone be aware of and comfortable talking about cyberbullying when they think it is happening to them include StopBullying.gov and STOMP Out Bullying.