what to do as a bystander
Firstly, what is a Bystander?
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A Bystander is any another person witnessing cyber abuse to another. Those comments, photos or videos that are at someone else’s expense or that just straight out harm. To do nothing when we all have a choice to either take action, report the abuse, do nothing or contribute to the abuse.
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Read on about how to report the abuse and also join our research by taking part in our survey to make a difference and to stop accepting Cyber Abuse within our online environment!
Save the Evidence
The first step to take if you ever witness cyber abuse is to screenshot the evidence immediately, recording the date and time in a document or by writing it down on paper.
You should record:
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A screenshot (photo) of the abusive message or post
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When it happened
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Who posted it or sent the abusive post/message
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Who it was posted to
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Report
Reporting a post will notify the moderators that the user has acted against the site’s code of conduct. If you allow the abuse to go unreported the abuser may continue targeting others and abuse online continues to be a 'norm'. Speaking up and reporting cyber abuse that you witness has an impact on many other people so it’s important to take action against all abuse.
Check Your Account Settings
Consider how you can change your own privacy settings on the platform, email account, website or other service. On some Social Media sites and messaging services there are settings that allow you to control who can view your profile and who can contact you through that site. See how to report posts, block users and check if your social media account has these setting options and ensure that they are set to ‘Private’ as this allows your details to be kept safe and secure. It's always good to be aware and get familiar with the platforms and how you can use them best to report and not accept abuse. Each platform has instructions on how to do so, here are a few examples to get you started:
Take Further Action
Even though All Rise is working towards redefining and legislating Cyber abuse as an official crime, it's not yet given the same attention or concern as offline abuse. It's important to continue the conversation about cyber abuse regardless and remember that you have an invaluable voice that can help make change in our world - online or offline!