Criminalizing Cyberbullying

Abstract

Educator Bill Belsey defines cyberbullying as "a persuasive form of intentional harassment by a group or individual acting with hostility toward another person, aided by the Internet's invasive capabilities" (Salem Press Encyclopedia). Bullying has always been a problem in our world, but took on a whole new form when technology began advancing. When it comes to cyberbullying, we need to determine a stricter line between freedom of speech, and hate speech. When it comes to communicating through technology, via text messaging, emailing, private messaging, etc. it is hard to interpret a person's tone of voice, because it is through writing, which can make it hard to interpret whether or not a person is cyberbullying. Many people feel as if their words put out on social media are protected by their right to freedom of speech, but if a person's words bring harm, such as suicide, to another person's life, then it becomes hate speech. If someone harms themselves because of words or pictures that are put out on the Internet that are not addressed directly at them, then the person that placed the words or pictures on the internet should not be criminalized, but rather protected by their right to freedom of speech. If a person places words or pictures out on the Internet, and directly addresses someone, then the words or pictures become a hate speech.