What can you do if your child is bullied on social networks?

The Internet is not a legal vacuum. Unfortunately, it is much easier on the web to insult, affront and threaten other persons openly or anonymously. As early as 2018, eight percent of young people aged 12 to 19 said they had already been victims of so-called cyberbullying. 19 % said they had experienced insults and threats on the Internet.

It is important that you, as a parent, talk to your children about inappropriate behaviour and the dangers on the Internet. Children and adolescents should know that no personal data should be put on the Internet and that they need to pay attention to security and to privacy protection. Pictures are sent quickly and thoughtlessly in everyday life. Children and adolescents need to be sensitised to the fact that they are not allowed to send compromising photos or videos and, if possible, that they should communicate only in closed groups. Research suggests that cyberbullying occurs more and more between the ages of 13 and 15. Accordingly, from the 3rd grade onwards, we should talk about this topic at home and also at school. If necessary, the topic can of course be discussed earlier.

If your child is a victim of cyberbullying or other criminal offences on the Internet, please remain calm and secure the evidence available. Report the incident to the operator of the platform or page. Have the content deleted and, in serious cases, immediately report it to the police. There is no specific law against bullying or cyberbullying in Germany.  However, legal violations on the Internet, such as insult, defamation, blackmail, coercion, but also the dissemination of images and videos without permission, can be prosecuted.

Possible violations relating to cyberbullying can include:

• Insult (Section 185 of the Criminal Code)
• Malicious gossip and defamation (Sections 186 and 187 of the Criminal Code)
• Coercion (Section 240 of the Criminal Code)
• Threatening commission of serious criminal offence (Section 241 of the Criminal Code)
• Extortion (Section 253 of the Criminal Code)
• Stalking (Section 238 of the Criminal Code)
• Infringement of the right to own image (Sections 22, 23 and 33 of the Act on the Copyright on Works of Fine Art and Photography)
• Violation of privacy of spoken word (Section 201 of the Criminal Code)
• Violation of intimate privacy by taking photographs or other images (Section 201a of the Criminal Code)
• Violation of privacy of correspondence and data espionage (Sections 202 and 202a Criminal Code)
• Dissemination of pornography (Section 184 of the Criminal Code)
• Dissemination of child pornography (Section 184b of the Criminal Code)

 

It is particularly important that you as as a parent are open-minded towards the Internet and let your children see that. If your children notice that you are rather sceptical, they might perhaps not turn to you in cases of abusive behaviour and cyberbullying.