Cyberbullying, an invisible problem

Violence in Mexico is a problem that has grown rapidly in recent years. Specifically, social violence, understood as any act that harms a community, group or individuals to the detriment of their rights, is now a daily occurrence. Spaces that were thought to be safe, such as schools or homes, are recurrent. If to this we add symbolic violence, where people do not perceive acts of aggression as such, a relationship of subjugation and domination without physical force emerges.

This is the case of cyberbullying, which is an intentional act of violence where there is clearly an imbalance of power that can be physical, psychological or social, and this act is repeated constantly over time. The difference between bullying and cyberbullyng is that in the latter media technology, it occurs from any digital device: cell phone, tablet, computer. Cases occur mainly in social networks where there is a wide audience and anonymity.

Another feature is the permanence of the violent act because it is enough to "upload" an unwanted image, make a true or false comment prejudicial to a person and it can be replicated countless times. From the above is that cyberbullying is a serious and silent problem that hides in anonymity, which generates consequences in the victims, and given its invisibility, the problem could be deeper.

Graph 1

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

Regarding the age of the affected persons, the first group was the 20 to 29 years old group (27.55%), followed by the 12 to 19 years old group with 27% and the 30 to 39 years old group with 22.1%. As for the 40 to 49 years age group, 17.4% was recorded and the groups with the least affectation corresponded to people aged 50 to 59 years and 60 years and older with 12.4% respectively (Graph 2). (Graph 2).

Graph 2

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

By school grade, the highest cases of cyberbullying in Hidalgo were, with 37.8%, at the elementary level; at the high school level it was 32.5%; in higher education, 29.5%, which is very similar to the national average.

The main situations of cyberbullying were, contact through false identities (35.7%), offensive messages (33.1%), receiving sexual content (25.5%), sexual advances or proposals (24.6%), provocations to react negatively (20.8%), offensive calls (19.3%), impersonation (18.1%), account or website tracking (16.8%), criticism based on appearance or social class (16.6%), threatening to publish personal information, audio or video to extort (7.6%), publishing personal information, photos or videos (5.2%) and publishing or selling images or videos with sexual content (3.1%). (Graph 3).

Graph 3

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

By gender, at the national level, the main forms of cyberbullying by sex, reported the following statistics, women are victims of receiving sexual content in 32.2%, sexual advances or proposals 32.3%, offensive messages 32.9% and contact through false identities was 36.7% (Graph 4). Meanwhile, men were victims of contact through false identities (34.5%), offensive messages (33.4%), provocations to react negatively (22.9%) and offensive calls (21.4%). (Graph 5).

Graph 4

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

Graph 5

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

The main effects of cyberbullying were anger 63.9%, distrust 36.6%, stress 26%, insecurity 24.7%, frustration 21.4%. (Graph 6).

Graph 6

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

The main routes of cyberbullying were, social network Facebook (45.4%), Twitter (39.3%), WhatsApp (32.9%), Messenger (25.4%) and cell phone calls (24.7%). (Graph 7).

Graph 7

Source: own creation based on data from MOCIBA, INEGI, 2022.

The actions taken by the victims were to block the person, account or page (63.7%), ignore or not answer (19.5%), talk to the person (8.9%), report to the public prosecutor, police or service provider (10.3%), report to school or work authorities (0.65%).

Statistics only show part of the picture; thorough studies are needed

It is very likely that these statistics only show the tip of the iceberg of the problem, which makes it necessary to rely on thorough studies that explain the causes and consequences of cyberbullying. In addition, we must not lose sight of the fact that digital violence is an extension of existing social violence, therefore, the effects are harmful to emotional health, school performance and social relationships.

As can be seen, cyberbullying begins at an early age, which is why intervention actions are required with those responsible for educational centers and parents; another fundamental action is to encourage a culture of reporting, as well as to activate prevention actions, care and protection protocols, with respect for human rights and inter-institutional coordination of the actors involved such as educational spaces and authorities.