Cyberbullying

Every day millions of people log onto social media platforms. There has been much discussion on whether or not individuals should be prosecuted for statements made on social media platforms. Individuals should be prosecuted for statements made on social media. Although cyberbullying is just a small crime, people should still be punished for harsh or hateful remarks on social media. Having freedom of speech is a privilege not a right, we should focus on the bigger stories on cyberbullying, and individuals affected by cyberbullying are affected in all aspects of their life.

Cyberbullying is an everyday situation for teenagers around the world. Many teenagers suffer from bullies that are treating them badly and differently than other people. Individuals should be prosecuted for statements made on social media because of the impact that it has on the victim. The cyberbully should be prosecuted because of how the victim reacts to the situation, how the bully harrasses them, and how it spreads around the internet.

  Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 teens have admitted to being a victim of cyberbullying? That’s an absurdly large number of teens! But what really is cyberbullying anyway? Well, the Cyberbullying Research Center defines it as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices”. Congresswomen Linda Sanchez is currently sponsoring a bill that would make bullying through an electronic means a federal crime and I wholeheartedly support it! Individuals should definitely be prosecuted for statements made on social media.

Social media has been a topic of debate for years. Some people are strongly against any use of it while others like the instant connection it provides. A major concern over social media is the lasting effects it has on teenagers. Social media can affect teenagers through many ways including things like their self-esteem. Cyberbullying is a raging topic of discussion centered around teens social media use. It can also effect their people skills and create a lack of community involvement. Some parents think that watching what their children do on social media is an invasion of privacy but is your concern for their privacy greater than your concern for their safety? Social media poses a great danger to today’s children. It can affect many aspects of their lives.

“...1 in 3 teens [have] admitted to being a victim of cyberbullying…” says child psychologist, Eden Foster, in reference to a survey, talked about in “The Dangers of Cyberbullying” by Brett Warke, that shows the absolute significance of cyberbullying in this day and age. Cyberbullying on social media is everywhere and it’s about time that someone took some action against it, and, in this case, taking legal action via prosecution may be the best way to go. Let it not be said that cyberbullying and bullying are different, infact, the only difference is the platform they take place on. Cyberbullying is done with the same malicious intent as face-to-face bullying is done with: the intent to hurt a victim in a psychological or physical way- showing

Social media has become one of the main methods for public shaming. Many activists have used it as a way of getting attention with the media, but others have used it as a form of entertainment to watch people’s lives get burned to the ground. Though public shaming can be very entertaining it can also be hurtful and can even cause people to lose their jobs along with their self respect. The article How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life, written by Jon Ronson, describes how the punishment for using social media inappropriately can be detrimental to your future

Every day, millions of people use social media to either converse with their peers or to post pictures. There has been much discussion on whether or not individuals should be prosecuted for rude statements made on social media. Individuals should not be prosecuted for derogative statements made on social media. Although some may say that prosecuting cyberbullies for statements made on social media is beneficial, it would have many negative consequences. Prosecuting individuals for statements made on the internet would discourage personal responsibility, be a violation of the first amendment, and squander tax payers' money.

A case of social media harassment has gone all the way to the supreme court. In 2014 a case of social media harassment Elonis v.United States appeared in front of the supreme court. Defendant Anthony Elonis had threatened not only his wife and children but also two female co-workers. The argument is whether Elonis harassing Facebook post are claimed to be part of his disturbed sense of humor or taken as true threats. If found guilty to these charges Elonis could be charged with five years in prison and $250,000 fine. Social media is a place to share thought and opinions with friends, not a place to harass and threaten innocent

Many people think should not be held responsible for what they post on social media. They think but I think that people should be held responsible for what they post on social media because bad decisions are made, victims will suffer, because if you post you should be held responsible for what the victim does to him/herself, and because people should respect others privacy. The first reason that I think that people should be held responsible for what they post on social media is that they have intentions to hurt the person they are posting about this can be voided if the person posting it didn’t post it at all its an option.

> The first reason why individuals should not be prosecuted for what they comment on social media is because everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. If someone wants to say that kanye west should not run for president because he is rude and selfish then thats their opinion. They should say what they want without being prosecuted or commented on. They should have the right to say what they want, when they want to say it.

With these laws regarding about cyberbullying getting passed, majority of the 50 states begin to adopt or made their own law in order to fight these crime in their state. According to Cyberbullying (n.d), California passed the “Seth’s law” after 13 year old Seth Walsh committed suicide after being cyberbullied about his sexual orientation and identity. This law states that schools can suspend or permanently expel offenders based on each individual case. In addition, California state legislature passed the first law to deal directly with cyber-bullying. The legislation was named "Assembly Bill 86 2008" and the idea was that it would add provisions related to bullying committed through an electronic communication device or system and a definition

Cyberbullying is when you harass or embarrass someone online. A lot of people think that cyberbullying should be prosecuted. I disagree that cyberbullying should be prosecuted. I disagree because if someone says something mean to you to make you feel bad through a screen it is all just words and if you can't handle it then just don't get on the Internet. I think it is ridiculous that just because someone thought that you were ugly, or stupid. That is would get to the point where it is taken into legal actions. I'm going to explain to you why I disagree with this Idea.

Social media has also created new concerns in relation to crime itself. Victimisation on social media platforms is not uncommon.

In this paper, I argue that social media may be an outlet for freedom of expression but it has been widely misused since there is little control over social media. The aim is to convince the reader that social media is a ground for insults, threats and bullying, given the freedom of expression and lack of governance that

I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This