Digital violence: the most common forms of harassment on the Internet

We review what are some of the most common types of digital violence to raise awareness among young people and adults of the risks that exist on the Internet.

As we explain in this article about the main threats facing children and adolescents on the Internet, cyberbullying or cyberbullying occurs when a person is a victim of some kind of violence by an individual or group.These aggressions can take different form, but they all have in common that, in addition to conditioning the way of acting of a victim, they can cause damage that affect both mental and physics.To recognize whether a close relative or person can be a victim of cyberbullying, in this article we review some signals that can serve as alert.

Cyberbullying is a problem that mainly affects children and adolescents due to the amount of hours that pass connected and because, in general, at these ages they do not finish taking dimension of the scope that the communications that are made through an app can haveof messaging, social network or video game.Likewise, this does not mean that this form of digital violence does not also affect adults.

According to figures published by the Cybersmile Foundation that promotes the Cyberbulling Day Stop, date that is celebrated every third Friday of June, 60% of Internet users have been exposed to some form of cyberbullying.

That said, the different forms or types of digital violence that we describe in this article have to do with the mechanisms most commonly used by the stalker to affect or make the victim feel bad and its consequences.Some types of harassment may seem innocent to the gravity or scope of certain more violent behaviors that occur online, but the truth is that no one knows how an action, no matter how innocent it may seem, can affect the other person.

Harassment

It consists of repeated shipping of offensive messages from a person or group towards a victim.They can be from insults, the use of nicknames, generate rumors or send derogatory messages through social networks, messaging applications or email.They can even create groups of harassors that are coordinated to send several messages to the same victim.

Many forms of cyberbullying fall into harassment, such as the sending of images that seek to affect the moral and self -esteem of the victim.

Lectura recomendada: Ciberbullying: consideraciones para trabajar el tema en clase

Stalking or stalking

Also known as predatory harassment, stalking or cyberstalking, this type of harassment on the Internet has to do with an obsessive behavior in which a person, unknown or not, either through social networks, messages or telephone calla person and seeks to get their attention in a way that generates apprehension and/or fear.

Non -consensual dissemination of intimate images

Sexting or Sexteo is not a form of violence, if not a sexual practice that consists in sending intimate photos or videos in a consensual way.The problem is when those images are disseminated without consent, either publicly or to nearby contacts of the victim, to harm and embarrass it.In some cases the stalker can use this content to extort the victim, a practice known as sexants.

It is important to add that this unseeout dissemination of the images can occur after having performed sexting, or after a sexual encounter in which someone takes photos or records a video of that meeting (with or without knowledge of the victim) and then distributingThe images, or can also happen that the images are extracted from a lost or stolen device.

According to some studies, the sexting, and above all the non -agre weather.

Frapping

This term is used to describe a cyberbullying form that occurs as a thirdpeople or groups, affecting the digital identity and reputation of the user by making those comments as real opinions.

False profiles

It consists of impersonating another using images and/or the name of an individual to create false profiles to harass, stalk or harass a victim.What the stalker seeks through false profiles is to act from anonymity.This can also lead to the theft of personal data or even in identity theft.

Lecturas recomendadas:

3 things to argue with your children before they join social networks

5 tips to talk to privacy and internet safety boys

Exclusion and cancellation

The exclusion consists in the deliberate intention of not allowing a person from a social group, whether work, school or other, participating in dynamics in which other members do participate, such as WhatsApp groups, online games or any other typeof activity carried out on the Internet.In the case of the little ones, exclusion can affect the development of self -esteem.

Cancellation is another similar form of digital violence and consists in stop consuming or following a user as retaliation for having a questionable attitude.This form of violence can be in response to comments made by a public or creative figure of content and has a negative impact on the perception that others may have over them.

Information filtration

This form of violence occurs when you are published or shared personal and sensitive information of an individual without their consent.This information can be of different types, such as documents, photos, audios or private videos, and affect the victim in different ways, either their reputation or relationship with third parties, as well as emotionally and psychologically.

As we mentioned with respect to the unseeled dissemination of intimate images and the risks of sexants, the filtration of personal information can also derive in extortion cases.

Grooming

When we talk about Grooming we refer to the practice in which an adult contacts a minor online to gain his trust and friendship with the true intention of sexually abusing the victim.It is worth clarifying that abuse can be to establish a conversation of a sexual nature with a minor, ask you to send photos, videos or sexual practices.These communications begin through social networks or any digital medium that allows interaction between two or more people.

Lectura relacionada: Grooming: una problemática que crece durante la cuarentena

There are other forms of violence that arise from the combination of the above with some nuances and that can vary according to technology, the way in which contact is established, the relationship between the stalker and the victim, etc..In any case, the objective of this article is not to cover all possible ways, but to show the scope and how the combination of technology, anonymity, abuse of power and violence can lead to behaviors that harm others.

How to act in the different forms of digital violence

The first thing to understand is that no matter how much they have not witnessed or suffered, digital and cyberbullying violence are real problems that exist daily and that affect anyone regardless of age, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity.Many times children or adolescents victims of these forms of violence fear telling their parents what happens to them.Therefore, it is very important that adults try to generate that space and transmit confidence to young people to be encouraged to count in case some of these situations.

It is also important that parents pay attention to certain signals that may indicate that their children may be victims of some form of cyberbullying, such as not wanting to attend class, sudden physical changes, loss of interest in activities that it usually does, stopUse social networks, as well as a certain out of the ordinary or aggressive answers outside context.

On the other hand, there are many benefits that Internet brings to give up its use.Therefore, the key is to think twice what information we share and with whom.It is important to keep in mind that what comes to the Internet can hardly be eliminated.

Other recommendations

Juan Manuel Harán

Newsletter

Newsletter

Similar articles

Concientización

5 señales de que su identidad ha sido robada

Concientización

Contraseñas predecibles: una receta para el fracaso

Concientización

Códigos QR: 5 formas en que pueden ser aprovechados por estafadores

Menores

Adolescentes en Instagram: tips para mantener a tus hijos seguros

Discussion