Title: Cyber Bullying: Effectivity of implementing laws in the Philippines I.
Introduction:
Statement of the Problem
Nowadays, Facebook was stated as one of the most popular social networking sites in the Philippines. According to the Asia Digital Marketing Association (ADMA) and the Internet World statistics, there are over a billion Internet users in the Asia Pacific region, which amounts to over 46% of the total Internet users in the world. Identically, the January 2015 Digital In the Philippines snapshot of We Are Social shows that in the last four years, Internet access in the Philippines has grown by 500% with over 44.2 million users and 90% of them have active social media accounts. Philippines was also categorized as the second highest ranking in the Southeast Asia and the 6 th in the whole of Asia. Sadly, social media which is part of our everyday life also becomes a centralized hub for cyber Bullying. According to Reginald Gonzales ( Social Media as a Channel and its Implications on Cyber Bullying. DLSU Research Congress 2014). With the continuous increasing number of netizens today, cyber bullying is no longer an ordinary issue. It is now raising concerns not only among internet users but as well as the authorities and even ordinary people.
Legal issues on cyber-bullying are now addressed by
passing laws providing penalties to those people who are found doing acts of harassment or cyber bullying. This is also a way to alleviate the abuse of using the social media to bully other internet users. Thus, statistics are shockingly revealing that in 2014 the Anti-Cyber Crime Group of the Philippine National Police reported an increase of 113% of Cybercrime rate involving the internet and other crime that used the information communication technology which, unfortunately, does not include Cyber-Bullying. Online issues and facts lead this research to dig further on the effectivity of applicable laws related to cyber-bullying. II.
Literature Review:
What is Cyber Bullying?
As stated by CAMARINES Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya, Cyber bullying is one such problem that the advancement in technology and social media has generated. It can potentially affect not only school-aged children, but also any individual who has access to a mobile phone or the Internet. As technology has evolved, bullying has increased through the use of modern technology. Chait (2006) explained that unlike the traditional form of bullying where the bullies attack their victims face to face, perpetrators of cyber bullying have the capability to use all types of communications technologies to attack others deliberately and repetitively.
Cyber bullying can involve many different intimidation
tactics, and many are similar to those of traditional bullying. Like traditional bullying, the most prevalent form of cyber bullying is name-calling and insults. Types of Cyber Bullying As traditional Bullying exists with different forms of verbal abuse and physical violence, there are also many types of Cyber-Bullying. The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, a US based non-government organization, enumerated in 2009 the types of Cyber-Bullying. Flaming Online fight using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language. Harassment Repeatedly sending mean or insulting messages. Denigration Sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.
Impersonation Pretending to be someone else and
sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or danger or to damage a reputation or friendship.
As Cyber-Bullying progress in the Philippines, a law maker
proposed a bill aiming to define and penalize the crime of Cyber-Bullying. Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya also include the type of Cyber-Bullying Under the Bill of the Anti-Cyber Bullying Act of 5718 which includes:
Repeated sending of offensive, rude and insulting
message, distributing and belittling information about the victim; Posting or sending of offensive photos of the victim, whether digitally altered or not, or were taken with or without consent, as long as it has intention to humiliate and embarrass the victim; Breaking into an e-mail, social networking or any electronic account and using the victims virtual identity to send, upload or distribute embarrassing materials to or about others, sharing the victims personal or embarrassing information and sharing it to others and repeated sending of messages such as threats or harm or engaging in online activities causing fear on victims safety.
Traditional Bullying Vs. Cyber Bullying
Each day school children learn valuable skills and lessons from their teachers as well as through interactions with their peers. Although school, undoubtedly, is beneficial to Filipino youths, there are some experiences, such as bullying, that may negatively affect and stick with these children for the rest of their lives. According to GALE Studen Resources, Traditional Bullying is any type of bullying that is carried out through a non-electronic means which includes verbal, physical and social abuse. All these three involve the harassment of a victim by an aggressor whose intent is to inflict harm.
While Cyber Bullying
as mentioned was based in modern technology that only need interpersonal interaction between the bully and his victim through modern communication technology. The progression of bullying from traditional to Cyber Bullying is often equated in the advancement of our society. This anonymity makes it easier for the offender to strike blows against a victim without having to see the victims physical response. (Donegan 2012) Nauances Bullying
of
Electronic
Communication
in
Cyber
Victims of Cyber Bullying
A recent concern of Cyber Bullying was also raised by Environmentalist and Human Rights defender Ayeen Karunungan who was prompted to file a case after she receive threats on social media because of her statements condemning the position of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on the use of coal as well as on allegations of human rights abuses against him.
Laws applicable to cyber bullying
What to do when being (Cyber) Bullied
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine how past and current laws effectively dealt with cyber bullying in the Philippines. This study will also investigate how an issue about cyber-bullying was handled by the government and to identify if changes are still needed on the current laws that we have. In addition, this study will also explore possible solutions to address the increasing cyber bullying rate in the Philippines. How do you plan to deal with the problem? What is your solution a. Methods: b. Discussion c. Conclusion