What do I do if I am being harassed on social media?

Social media is great, and we do love all that it can do for us both personally and professionally, but there is a rather horrifying reality that we are finally talking about: cyber-bullying and harassment. There is no easy way to say this; there are a lot of mean-spirited people out there who seem to gain a lot by harassing others on social media channels.

We have all come across trolls, possibly when responding to a friend’s post about the elections or the continual global warming. Who are trolls, you ask? Folks who intentionally post inflammatory or hurtful comments in a forum or community to provoke people. It appears trolls get some kind of joy from such disruption.

Trolls get a lot of reaction for the right reasons. People tend to want to engage with opinion that contradicts or attempts to change the subject, in an effort to educate and keep discussions focused. But trolls do it for more than that. It’s power. It’s feeling like they can hurt you and change the course of the dialogue.

It’s not just trolls, the internet is full of people looking to harm others. Trolling is even more harmful when it is aimed at a person’s gender, sexuality, or religion. Or all of them. Hurting others is what keeps trolls active.

 It’s for these reasons that our political representatives often end up in the news: remember Dianne Abbott and the abuse she had to deal with? She was being attacked on the basis of her gender and race, and that’s harassment, let no one tell you otherwise.

As social media users, it’s our collective duty to report accounts when we see any visible trolling. But sometimes it’s not as easy as that as the abuse may be happening at an individual level. If the abuse points to potential of physical harm, it’s even more dangerous.

Trolling and online abuse is not just racist or sexist, or physical threats, it’s taken dangerous forms such as blackmail. People try to exploit the potential of social media by threatening someone to get what they want.

There have been shocking accounts of people being blackmailed over social media by someone threatening to release sensitive information about the other person. Or posting their nudes. Heard of revenge porn? Issues like these are a fundamental violation of privacy and should be treated as such. For those receiving all the hate, these can lead to mental health issues and feeling threatened and at risk all the time.  

Sadly, abuse like is not new and been happening for a while. For a while now, people have been advised ‘not to feed the troll’ and let it go. Luckily, more advice is coming in from law enforcement agencies and there is more recognition to address issues of trolling, sexism, racism, and blackmail through cases like revenge porn.

 Know your rights

Based on where you are, it’s important to know your rights. If your country has no rules to help you with any abuse you receive on any social media platform, please check with the platform itself. Usually, the ‘Help’ section of any social media channel is a good place to start.

If there are rules in the country you are located, please update yourself and know who to contact should things go out of hand.  You can also block the user and report their profile to the social media channel so they can assess and take down their profile if needed.

Address the troll and the abuse

If you consider the nature of trolling based on knowledge, please call it out. Please engage with it so the rest of the users can hopefully chip in and respond to the troll. This would also help in stopping the spread of any misinformation.

Discussion can be very powerful and allow you to engage with aspects of the issue that trolls thrive on. Questions of injustice based on issues such as race, religion, sexuality, should be called out, as a constructive space can then be created.

Part of your response could also include links to educate them and create a more nuanced place for discussion. By not calling out the troll, you are feeding their hunger for power and helping them gain more confidence.

If the abuse directed at you is sexist or racist or involves blackmail or a hate crime, please report it. In this case, screenshots of messages or actions would help the authorities take action.

You are not alone

Please remember that you are not alone and that many understand the distress you experience and may even be able to advise or help you. If you feel you can share it, there are a good few people out there who would understand exactly what you are going through and would be willing to help - even charities.

Please remember to report anyone you see trolling or abusing someone on social media. As everyday users, it is our duty to keep everyone safe, and reporting is the smallest yet very powerful thing we can do to keep each other safe.