Online bullying a severe problem

A survey finding shows that 85 percent of the youth in Bangladesh say online bullying is a severe problem.

Grameenphone and Telenor Group, in association with Plan International, did the survey in August and September 2021 among youths with the pandemic as the backdrop on how internet use and online bullying trends have changed across four countries -- Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand.

Of the 3,930 respondents in the regional survey, 16 percent of the respondents were youths from Bangladesh. The survey revealed that 85 percent of these individuals in Bangladesh said that online bullying is a severe problem.

With the ongoing digitalisation in Bangladesh, this is a concern that requires greater attention and awareness, as 29 percent of Bangladesh youths said they were bullied before the pandemic, while 18 percent said they experienced more online bullying since the onset of Covid-19.

In Bangladesh, 8 percent of youths have experienced online bullying at least once a week or more since the pandemic, according to the survey. The three most common platforms where youths experienced online bullying were social media, messaging apps, and online gaming and video game streaming platforms, the findings showed.

"We've been working hard to drive awareness and keep our future generations safe online to address these risks. There is no denying our future generation needs digital skills and are active users of the internet," Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman reiterated the company's focus to address the issues outlined by the Telenor survey.

"We, therefore, need to intensify cooperation and commitment with various stakeholders to keep them safe. The Bangladesh Government is taking a bold step to include this very relevant subject in the national curriculum with a mission to amplify awareness." he said.

"With the marked increase in time spent on the internet by youth during the pandemic, there is a clear need to better equip youths with ways and methods to protect them online. Awareness, training on online bullying, and digital building resilience are crucial to be a multi-stakeholder exercise," said Manisha Dogra, VP, Sustainability for Telenor in Asia.

Across the four countries, the results showed that youths are keen to learn more about dealing with online bullying on social media apps (56 percent), protecting their privacy online (46 percent) and improving their mental health and wellbeing (43 percent).

Additionally, the respondents were interested in protecting themselves from online bullies on messaging apps (40 percent) and dealing with online bullying during gaming and streaming video games (37 percent).

The survey also revealed that 86 percent of youths surveyed in Bangladesh spent more time on the internet since Covid-19 began. In addition, 35 percent of youth in Bangladesh said they used the internet all the time, 15 percent used it mainly in the evenings, and only 2 percent limited their use to only during school hours.