Social media firms ‘must do more to tackle cyber-bullying’
SOCIAL media platforms are failing to effectively tackle cyber-bullying, a new report claims.
Technology companies were accused of offering a “tokenistic” response to the problem as MPs and leading charities warned shortcomings are placing youngsters’ mental health at risk. Cyber-bullying takes a number of forms – including mass “unfollowings”, sharing of embarrassing photos and threatening, intimidating or nasty messages, the study found.
It highlighted how children and young people are using social media for hours every day, often across multiple profiles.
A survey of 1,089 respondents aged 11 to 25 found almost one in 10 admitted logging on after midnight every night.
Describing their views on social media usage in an evidence session, one youngster said “it’s almost like a drug”, while another said: “Nobody really goes out anymore.”
The paper said: “The evidence relating to the impact that cyber-bullying has on children’s mental health and wellbeing is in its infancy - but we do know that there is emerging evidence that draws links between the two.”
The analysis welcomed positive initiatives adopted by social media firms to tackle abusive content, such as the use of algorithms. It also called on the Government to require platforms to publish data about their response to reported episodes of bullying.