Cyberbullying increases by 20%

Cyberbullying has increased by 20 percent in 2022 when compared to last year.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Division of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime received around 300 cyberbullying complaints this year. It was 220 in 2021.

Md Najmul Islam, additional deputy commissioner, CCID, CTTC, revealed the statistics to The Daily Star.

Of the complainants, 80 percent of victims are women. Of the female victims, 60 percent are aged between 17 and 22.

Ninth and tenth-grader girls are also not safe from cyberbullying, although the percentage is relatively low (5-7 percent).

Experts, however, said the actual number is much higher as most of these incidents remain unreported as the victims prefer to keep them a hush-hush due to family pressure.

Prof Tania Haque of Women and Gender Studies Department at Dhaka University identified three reasons behind cyberbullying.

She said lack of entertainment and not knowing how to responsibly use social media leads to cyberbullying.

Thirdly, ignoring such crimes lead to more cyberbullying, she added.

Urging victims not to remain silent regarding the matter, she encouraged victims to raise their voice against cyberbullying.

Professor of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at Dhaka University Dr Lafifa Jamal said the risk of cyberbullying can be avoided if the users can be informed about cyber etiquette.

"Social media accounts are extremely personal but we don't understand it and share our personal moments and passwords with our partners and loved ones due to which this kind of crimes take place," she said.

Terming the Cybercrime Investigation Division skilled and experienced, she advised victims to lodge complaint with them.

When asked steps taken by them to reduce cyberbullying, Najmul said they have been conducting different campaigns to reduce cyberbullying.

The government has also launched a cyber-crime helpline. Victims can call at +8801766678888 to submit their complaints.