Last year 4 boys from my school were humiliated when someone using a fake name posted nude pictures of them on twitter. They weren't smart to take those pictures in the first place but still, one of them almost killed himself.

Male, 13 – 18, South Africa
 

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I've been set up by anonymous groups who have threatened me, 
while revealing personal information about me that only the closest person to me could’ve known. They reveal my home address, phone number etc. Combined with threats to my safety this can be very frightening and has lead me to not feel safe enough to leave my residence on an occasion.

Female, 26 – 35, Australia
 

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Cyber abuse is something that is very real and affects many people.

It has affected my teenage son. 18 months ago my son started changing. He went from an outgoing extravert, confident young man who was excelling at school, training in football and MMA and had a group of close friends. Through being abused on social media he now battles with an eating disorder, he had to finish year 11 and 12 at TAFE and not the mainstream private school he was attending, he has developed poor self- esteem, he barely socializes any more. He is not the same young man he was. He is now seeing a Psychiatrist to assist him with the issues that have arisen over being cyber bullied. As a parent you feel helpless to see your child go through such hurt, no matter how much you love them and care for them, these bullies seem to be able to get into their heads. What’s worse is that he didn't say anything, I knew something was wrong.

Female, 38, Australia

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I am a retired CEO of a number of multi-national corporations and have been responsible for leading some very large teams of people, globally disbursed. I feel I have a very good understanding of the importance of team work, community connection and of the behavior that evolves an organization or a community. I know and understand very well the digital and technology business world. One thing I know for sure is that this relatively new digital world of the internet and social media is here to stay and that, whilst this medium has significant potential, it is already responsible for great harm and evil. I have been on the receiving end and have been be singled out by a cyber-bullies. I have had my  reputation tarnished by people who do not know me but who get a kick out of the anonymous mask of the internet so as to abuse people to the extreme by spreading damaging lies. The cyber bullies have no idea how this hurts and the damage to careers, relationships and personal well- being that they are having in their senseless games they play. Cyber- bullying is now out of control and there are millions of innocent victims around the globe. Yet our regulators stand by and allow this to continue with minimal protection from the law. The internet service providers and application software providers are allowed to facilitate such behavior without punishment. These suppliers and facilitators are allowed to trade in our back yards whilst polluting our lands. The consequences will be long term as communities degenerate from the poison of more and more cyber–bullying leading to mental health issues on an epidemical scale. The financial cost will be saturating government budgets and the brake on communities evolving will have massive social fall outs. It is time for action to pre-emptively address cyber bullying and the abuse of the internet.

Male, 63, Australia
 

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When cyber abuse has happened to me, it was one of the most anxious feelings of my life. It kept me up at night for weeks, and had me fearing for my career prospects and my reputation. I was deeply affected by the falsities that were written about me, and the damage took months to repair. The cyber abuse that targeted me was mild relative to what I’ve seen online and heard about. The level of cyber abuse today leaves me in dismay. Thousands of people are affected in the same way I was, or much, much worse to the point of suicide. It is not okay. Cyber abuse is equivalent to public harassment and assault, and I sincerely believe that cyber abuse should be de- anonymised and criminalized by our public protection agencies, and by the public at large.

Female, 32, America  
 

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As a consequence of online defamation directly about me and my associations, my business has suffered greatly in a number of ways. Due to the seriousness of these online lies and allegations, there has been question and doubt raised by clients and members of the community, who may or may not have been directly related to my business, that would have otherwise been completely aligned in simply knowing me and the business that I have been building over the past 12 years. This resulted in a loss of at least 50% business and the cancellation of a major project through people’s retraction in response to the online allegations. It must not be underestimated the amount of valuable time and resources that are now required to defend, justify and explain the extreme untruths that have been disseminated online and are there for public view. The impact extends far beyond financial, which is significant, to the otherwise untainted reputation of myself as a health and business professional. I use social media less for fear of further public retribution, which then further impacts on the growth of my business and financial security. At different stages, the seriousness of the attacks and allegations, have also impacted on my own mental health and confidence in myself.


Female, 37, Australia

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I have been accused, harassed and threatened online in the most abusive ways by people I personally have never met. This cyberbullying has cost me loss in income, considerable time and distress to me personally as well as to my business and family.

I have been threatened, harassed and abused online as well as receiving emails and anonymous phone calls since 2013, attacking me privately and on a professional level. Pictures from my private Facebook page were taken and circled on the internet with abusive and vile threats to me and my partner. My relationship has been denigrated and our whole family has been affected by the online abuse, in terms of our wider family reading and being distressed by the abuse, lies and vile comments of me. The use of my own Facebook posts in a way that it was not intended and used to ridicule me and my work does not reflect the true nature of my practice. Any complaints made to police or government bodies have not brought any stop to this and it is still ongoing.

Male, 52, Australia

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I have been consistently bullied and defamed on-line. The online defamation and harassment campaign has accused me of unethical and abusive practices and has continued on to date via ongoing denigrating comments posted relentlessly on social media stigmatising me as inept and unqualified with a deliberate intention and agenda to denigrate my reputation and the publics perception of me in my local community. I have been publicly humiliated, gossiped about and my reputation undermined. As such the results were that most of my established clients at the time the defamation began in 2012 were fearful of continuing to utilise my services as well as fearful of being targeted themselves within the local community. The harassment and intimidation directly impacted my business financially with the result that I was forced to stop practising all together and close the business.

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This person had attended my home and had been a recipient of my services and openly appreciated and expressed benefit from my services. However, behind the scenes was a contrasting picture at play, which inevitably resulted in my becoming fearful of further damage and retaliation in the community toward me and my family

The effect of this harassment and defamation became far wider reaching than publicly undermining my honour, integrity and ethics; it adversely affected my future prospects of work. I attended a final stage job interview in 2012 (at the time that the on-line harassment hate campaign was gathering momentum) where the scrutiny that I was then under due to what they have found on the Internet was almost depilating. They raised their concerns about by association potentially opening themselves up to the same-
targeted harassment and impact on their own reputation. Not only had the targeted campaign shut down my own business but also it was now have devastating affects on my potential employment. The very real impact of this hate campaign on my self-esteem and self- confidence was debilitating. I became fearful of seeking other work for a long period knowing well that that any future employer researching me would come across this vile about me on the Internet.

Age: 41, USA
 

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I was hospitalized in August because of cyber abuse from two people who wanted to kill me. I was suicidal for three months prior. This is an issue that needs to be taken seriously.

Female, 19 – 25, USA 


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In a social network that used to be very popular in Brazil a few years ago - called Orkut - my mom started talking to a guy, who was a friend of a friend. My mom can be VERY naive and gullible, so as the friendship grew, she would tell MANY details about our family's personal life. She told him about me, about where I study - I was 16 at the time, where she had her apartment at the beach, her marriage problems with my father... One day, he started blackmailing her. He'd tell her where I study and tell her that I'm easy to kidnap because I'm a redhead - here in Brazil it's very rare, he even showed up at the beach while my mom was sunbathing after she blocked him in Orkut. But the thing is, he expected that my mom would be too afraid to say anything and give him the 2,000 realise he was asking for. During that, life became hell. We had to delete all of our social media accounts, any pics or videos or anything, and if we wanted to go back, we were obviously advised to choose other names or last names, as a disguise. After school, I could NEVER leave it without my mom. And when I say NEVER, I mean I couldn't even wait for her on the street. We had to sell our apartment at the beach and we had to sell our car and buy another. Yeah... so that's that.

Female, 19 – 25, Brazil