Cyberbullying Should be a Criminal Offense

Business Law Case Study Report: Should Cyberbullying be a Criminal Offense?
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Business Law Case Study Report: Should Cyberbullying be a Criminal Offense?
Introduction
Since the explosion of the Internet technologies, there has been a massive credit and technological marvel in the 21s progressive society. However, there has been a growing concern over the voices calling for stricter legislations in the Internet use. Cyberbullying, which is a common among criminal Internet users, refers to the use of electronic communication to bully computer users by sending messages of threatening or intimidating in nature. According to Stopbullying.gov, common examples of cyberbullying involve emails, text messages, or embarrassing posts on social media. Importantly, there are no actual laws, which particularly cover the area of cyberbullying. In the United States, anyone feeling that they have been cyberbullied may refer to older regulations, including Defamation Act of 2013, Breach of the Peace in Scotland, Communication Act of 213 Malicious Communication Act of 1988, Criminal Justice and Public Act of 1994 or the Protection from Harassment Act of 1997. The existing laws have been seen to be unsuitable in a world an increasing numbers of communication to individuals of a younger age and this has caused an increased call for law reforms. This paper argues that cyberbullying is a serious offense, and needs to be treated as a criminal activity that needs to have legal punishment for individuals involved in the crime.
Analysis
Cyberbullying affects individuals of all ages, but has become an epidemic for the young generation exposed to the Internet. In a similar instance like face-to-face interaction, the rhetoric in cyberbullying is always centred on its impact on the young generation. According to Press Association (2014), about 35% of children aged between 11 and 17 years are bullied online. In 2018, about 56% of United States teens were harassed or bullied online and the same percentage of teens claim that cyberbullying is a major problem for individuals of their age (Anderson, 2018). More than 20% of the young children experience extreme cyberbullying at one stage of their lives, and Facebook is the most common platform among all social network platforms that expose children to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying on the younger generation has an excessive impact, and causes a tragedy in society, which calls for laws to be enacted to make it a criminal offense. The increased use of social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter by the young generation exposes them to risks of being bullied online. The most known case in the United States is the Megan Meier, which is the highest profile case of child suicide that is linked to cyberbullying. To the level that cyberbullying ca result in suicidal cases, then it would be logical enough to identify cyberbullying as a criminal offense.
A majority of teenagers think that their parents are doing a great task in addressing online bullying or harassment, although a smaller percentage feel that, other groups of interest parties are handling the issue in an effective manner. In the modern times, tech companies, school officials and law maker...