22 March 2020 / ICT Media
- What is cyberbullying? How does it appear? What platforms is it most common on?
We can describe cyberbullying as attacks against children, especially through digital technologies. Attacks here usually contain texts with more emotional content. There may be content that is offensive, insulting, false or deceptive. In our country, this bullying can be done through websites and forums, as well as through social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter.
- What are the effects of cyberbullying on individuals, especially children?
The biggest negative impact is seen by young people, especially teenagers, starting with children. Although the level of cyberbullying varies from person to person, it can cause quite serious consequences, from psychological problems to suicide. Unfortunately, these and similar problems are quite common in countries such as our country, where internet technologies are used extensively. The high rate of young population in our country is one of the reasons for this increase.
- How to fight cyberbullying? What should individuals do to prevent victims and protect themselves from cyberbullying?
We can say that the most important condition of protection from cyberbullying is education first and then control. In particular, families need to know what the channels are for, what children use these channels for, and what the dangers may be on these channels. Fighting your enemy without knowing him is like Don Quixote attacking windmills. First, research should be done about all these digital channels, then they should be used, and finally, these channels should be started to be audited one by one.
- What should families do against cyberbullying? What are the duties for the public and private sectors for a safer internet?
Especially parents have a big responsibility on this issue. They have to follow up on many topics such as which sites children visit, which social media accounts they have, what kind of games they play or watch videos. However, while doing this, they should proceed without squeezing the child and as unobtrusive as possible. If children have Facebook or Instagram accounts, parents or other adults should also open these accounts on their behalf and show that their children are not alone in this area. Within these accounts, the adults who are included in the children’s friend networks can more easily follow both the shares and who the friends in the network are. They may seek help from their children by pretending that they do not know the features they know. The bottom line is, the more sincere and sincere you are, the more helpful you will be. In the studies conducted in the public sector, especially general informative content is shared. While these are useful, they are unfortunately not sufficient unless they go into detail. In this regard, especially the private sector needs to provide more support by doing much more constructive and detailed studies. In the very near future, LG Turkey is planning to launch a project that supports parents in this area. We hope that the number of these studies will continue to increase on behalf of our country.
- Information Technologies and Communication Authority carries out studies to raise awareness of the society and especially children for the conscious use of the Internet and to ensure its safe use. Do you think these studies are sufficient, what are the shortcomings, if any, and do you find the government’s studies on this subject sufficient? Do families act sensitively and consciously about internet use?
Raising awareness of children and their families is especially important in this field, and the support of the state in this regard is positive for the future. Plus, it seems inevitable that more mass studies that could go viral are done. No matter how successful brand-based projects are today, unfortunately, these efforts do not make much sense if you cannot announce this to the masses. The way to raise awareness of families is to draw attention first. I think that mass and large campaigns will be much more effective and meaningful. I’m not talking about high-budget jobs to realize this job. Users who think that they add value to themselves in every socially supported work will contribute to these projects with much more support.