85% Indian children experience cyberbullying, highest globally: Report

Nearly 85% of children in India are subjected to the different types of cyberbullying (or they have cyber bullied someone else) at rates nearly double the global average, according to a new report. 

Cyberbullying is the act of bullying an individual or community online and includes racism, trolling, personal attacks and sexual harassment, to name a few. 

The report titled ‘Cyberbullying in Plain Sight’ by cybersecurity firm McAfee, is based on survey was conducted between June 15 to July 5 covering 11,687 parents and their children across 10 countries. 

"Cyberbullying in India reaches alarming highs as more than 1 in 3 kids face cyber racism, sexual harassment, and threats of physical harm as early as at the age of 10 - making India the number 1 nation for reported cyberbullying in the world," McAfee Chief Product Officer Gagan Singh said in the report. 

Indian children witness and experience the maximum cyberbullying on almost every social media and messaging platform, noted the report, with 42% of children have been the target of racist cyberbullying, strikingly 14% higher than the rest of the world at 28%.  

Extreme forms of cyberbullying reported besides racism include trolling (36%), personal attacks (29%), sexual harassment (30%), threat of personal harm (28%) and doxing (23%), all of these at almost double the global average.  

India also reported prominent acts of cyberbullying such as spreading false rumours at 39%, being excluded from groups and conversations at 35% and name calling at 34%. Notably, 45% of Indian children said that they hide their cyberbullying experiences from parents, perhaps due to the relative absence of conversation.

"Indian children reported cyberbullying up to 1.5 times more than children in other countries across fourteen surveyed platforms, ranging from Facebook and Instagram to Snapchat and WhatsApp. The one exception is TikTok, which remains banned in India,” the report said. 

The report added that nearly 3 out of 5 (58%) children said that they have deleted a social media account to avoid cyberbullying, versus the 33% global average. Also, 87% said that they talk to their friends about cyberbullying, which is 25% above the international figure of 62%. 

In May 2022, McAfee came up with a similar report on Indian children having the highest online risk exposure, along with guidelines for parents on how children can be protected from cyberbullying. It also added, smartphone use at the age of 10 to 14 in India is at 83%, which is 7% higher than the international average of 76%, exposing them to substantial online risks mainly due to security gap between parents and children.