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What is it?

Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated  negative behaviour targetting someone.

Cyber bullying behaviour might include:

abusive texts and emails

hurtful messages, images or videos

imitating others online

excluding others online

humiliating others online

spreading nasty online gossip and chat

creating fake accounts to trick someone or humiliate them.

statistics:

Cyberbullying has risen 32 % in last decade, and still rising.

Cyberbullying is the cause of at least three suicides per week in Australia for youth, and highest cause of death for Australian youth between 5-17 years old.

A parent recalls her daughters experience of cyberbullying  “The cyberbullying had a significant impact on my daughter’s mental health and her ability to attend school. We had to work really hard for months with the school and police to find an outcome that kept her safe and enabled her time and space to recover.”

1 in 5 Australian youth report experiencing cyberbullying

Wit the impact of COVID-19 forcing schools to go online, there has been an increase in the amount of time youth are spending more time then ever. The Queensland Kids Helpline has reported a dramatic increase in calls about mental health,  cyberbullying and suicidal thoughts since the COVID-19 pandemic started, with calls increasing by 14%.

Cyber bullying is an adaption to bullying, it doesn’t  involve the usual face to face contact bullies use the internet to make contact. Cyber bullying can feel as though the victim has no escpae, as the internet is everywhere and it can be viewed by others so the audience can further humiate the victim.

Do it For Dolly
Dolly’s Dream was created following the devastating  loss of their 14-year-old daughter, Dolly, to suicide, after ongoing bullying. Kate and Tick’s goal is to prevent other families walking this road. Their goal is to change cultures and behaviours to prevent bullying, by increasing understanding of the impact of bullying, anxiety, depression, and youth suicide and by providing support to parents.
Do it for Dolly gained world wide attention and is just one of many initiatives that try to prevent bullying.

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What is it?

this cyber crimes takes place predominately on genuine online dating apps  and websites, scammers find profiles who they believe will be easy targets and starts communicating with the person.

How it works?

The scammer once making contact moves the relationship onto other communication sites such as email  and messaging, they do this because if the profile gets removed they are still able to communicate.

Garrets thesis details how complex and sophisticated the scam can be.
the scammer then begins to build a  relationship  this may take weeks to even years, they use excuses as to why the other person cannot physically see them such as they  cannot meet in person or face time because they live to far or their  camera is broken.
because the scammer has gone to great lengths to get the victim to trust them often the victim dismisses these excuses and continues the relationship. the scammer can even send gifts to apologise for not being in physically contact.

Once the relationship is established and there has been quite a bit of trust the scammer will asks for money or suggest that they don't know how they're going to afford it because they make excuses that every day people experience such as losing a job and not knowing if they can pay rent, a family member gets ill and they don't know how their going to afford their medical bills or they cant afford to take time off or they live in another town/state/country and cant afford the plane money to go and see the victim. So  the victim offers to help the person they believe to be in a relationship because they feel sympathetic. However once the first payment is made it is not the last, they make further excuses as to why they need more money.

Romance scams can start with little amounts  however over time when the victim is committed to the relationship, it can be financially destroy people. A lady in American gave $2 million to a man she man she never met, she believed she was giving him money to help him move closer to her and the money request continued and spiraled out of control.

Last year alone Australians  lost $37 million in dating and romance scams reported to scam watch.

Romance fraud has been perpetuated by the Internets  advancement with people able to communicate from one side of the world to another in real time, MTV's 'Catfish the TV show' has created world wide attention on the issue of romance fraud.
The show helps  people who are emotionally entangled with someone they have never met in real life.
Each episode is an investigation into whether or not the other participant in the virtual relationship is legitimate or if he or she is, in fact, a "catfish".

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What is it?
The process by which an individual is introduced to an ideology  that encourages movement from mainstream beliefs towards extreme views,  through the use of the internet and social media.

Readings from week one  expose how the  advancements of the internet have more people online then ever before, digital criminologist  have commented that through the  increased use in social media there has been a blurring of  online and offline worlds. With  84% of Australians using  the internet at least once a day,  and  62 % using social media.
The internets convenience and reach ability has been embraced by recruiters for organisations worldwide as it has allowed the audience to be limitless, being recruited does not generally involve viewing one video, but once a video is viewed it takes a person into a community or logs theirs interest and then creates an algorithm to which similar post that share the same ideology are brought to the interests of the person. Once a person is engaged in the content recruiters often communicate via encrypted messaging  apps.

Radicalsiation is predominately thought to be directed  at  Islamatic terrorist however the last few years there has been a rise in right winged groups that identity as white supremists.

Since 2014 there has been a reduction in terrorist incidents globally this is credited  to  the successful  fighting of groups such as  ISIS, however there has been a surge in far right violence over 5 years with an increase of 320%.

"always the online environment, with thousands in extremist echo chambers exchanging hate-filled rhetoric or claiming violent aspirations to impress each other"

On the 6th of January 2021 the United States capital was under siege by far right Trump supporters,  the violent attack was incited by Donald Trump,  after months of propaganda of continually stating that the election was stolen, and that trump had actually won. The “save America” rally turned violent Trump encouraged the protesters to march to the capital.
People armed themselves with assault rifles and supporters came out in  thousands, Trump encouraged his supporters to go home eventually but continued to maintain that the vote was stolen and he loved them despite the supporters killing a police officer.

The attack on the capital is an example how dangerous the internet can be to these extremist ideologies, and how it can be used to organise  attacks.

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image based abuse: sharing non consensual images 

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image based abuse: sharing non consensual images 

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What is it?
sexually explicit images and videos that are captured, published or circulated without the consent of the person. also known as revenge porn.

What's an intimate image?
An intimate image is defined as a photograph or video of a person:

nude

with their genitals or backside showing (whether bare or covered by underwear)

with their bare breasts showing (if they identify as female)

engaged in an intimate sexual activity not normally done in public.

Digitally altered images are also included :

a person’s face digitally added to a pornographic or sexualised image

a nude or partially nude person with their genitals or breasts digitally covered.

Even if the photo was taken with consent the sharing of the photo without the consent of the person in the photo is illegal.

Australia has introduced laws against image-based abuse introduced in every

state and Territory except Tasmania.

The threat of   sharing of the images can be used as a tool of power and to control and gain advantage of the victims vulnerability.

Whilst the  activity of sharing intimate images  did not start with the internet but originated during the  Polaroid revolution as people were  able to develop photos instantly. The evolution of technology has completely changed the audience of people those images can be shared to and they way they can be adapted/edited.

Who it effects?

The sharing is predominately committed by males and targets women disproportionately , males may also be victims however are less likely.

The effects?

There are website solely dedicated to  revenge porn,  over 3,000 websites feature the genre.

Victims may experience a significant amount of victim blaming exists, the backwards thinking that if the victim didn’t want it shared they shouldn’t have taken nor shared the images in the first place. Even if the images were obtained without consent or permission the victim can face stigmatisation as well as shame.

In 2015 RMIT conducted a  survey on online abuse and harassment, it was reported that 1 in 10 Australians (between 18 and 55 years of age) have had a nude or semi-nude image of them distributed online or sent onto others without their permission,
with 10.7% reporting that someone had taken a nude or semi-nude image of them without their permission.

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Hashtag activism is a form of online justice, which has been incredibly appealing in the last decade through the rise of the internet.
This allows victims of crimes to speak out of against their perpetrators when they feel like they have been failed by the justice system, they only feel safe speaking through the internet as it allows anonymity, and can be looking for support from other victims.

Activist campaigns started over social media have been known to spread into real movements that created real change, hashtag activism allows people or organizations to spark a widespread discussion through social media, whether they want to fight for or support a cause. Since information spreads fast on social media, many people believe that hashtag activism is an effective form of advocacy and that's true.

Hashtag movements have seen wide international coverage: #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter

#Me Too

In 2006, the “me too.” Movement was founded by survivor and activist Tarana Burke.

In 2017, the #metoo hashtag went viral and woke up the world to the magnitude of the problem of sexual violence

On the 5th October 2017 the New York times published a story in which several actresses came forward accusing Harvey Weinstein Hollywood producer of sexual misconduct, over the next 3 years over 100 women came forward with accusations of sexual assaults, misconduct, and advances.  some of these women included celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, and Gwyneth Paltrow:  . On the 11th of March 2020 Harvey Weinstein was  sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

What started out as an allegations story of a few women soon shook Hollywood with 100 survivors coming forward with the #metoo movement, which ultimately led to Weinstein’s conviction.

#BlackLivesMatter

The #BlackLivesMatter movement was created in 2013 after the acquittal of  Trayvon Martin’s murderer, it soon turned into an global political and social movement to protest against racially motivated violence facing black people as well as police brutality. Whilst it started as a hashtag it soon grew into a movement to end racially fueled violence.

In 2020 the movement gained international attention with the killing of  George Floyd by Minneapolis Police office Derek Chauvin, the killing sparked global protests  with an estimated 15-26 million protestors  in the United States alone. With #BlackLivesMatter trending around the world pressure was on for the DA to secure a conviction for the murder, earlier this year Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years for the murder.

Both these movements are prime examples of the incredible success and real change that hashtag activism can create.