Draft1:

ProposedResearchOutline:
Title:CyberBullying:Effectivityofimplementinglawsinthe
Philippines
I.Introduction:
StatementoftheProblem
Nowadays,Facebookwasstatedasoneofthemostpopularsocial
networkingsitesinthePhilippines.AccordingtotheAsiaDigital
MarketingAssociation(ADMA)andtheInternetWorldstatistics,
thereareoverabillionInternetusersintheAsiaPacificregion,
whichamountstoover46%ofthetotalInternetusersintheworld.
Identically,theJanuary2015DigitalInthePhilippinessnapshot
ofWeAreSocialshowsthatinthelastfouryears,Internetaccess
inthePhilippineshasgrownby500%withover44.2millionusers
and90%ofthemhaveactivesocialmediaaccounts.Philippines
wasalsocategorizedasthesecondhighestrankingintheSoutheast
Asiaandthe6thinthewholeofAsia.
Sadly,socialmediawhichispartofoureverydaylifealsobecomes
acentralizedhubforcyberBullying.AccordingtoReginald
Gonzales(SocialMediaasaChannelanditsImplicationson
CyberBullying.DLSUResearchCongress2014).Withthe
continuousincreasingnumberofnetizenstoday,cyberbullyingis
nolongeranordinaryissue.Itisnowraisingconcernsnotonly
amonginternetusersbutaswellastheauthoritiesandeven
ordinarypeople.
Legalissuesoncyberbullyingarenowaddressedbypassinglaws
providingpenaltiestothosepeoplewhoarefounddoingactsof
harassmentorcyberbullying.Thisisalsoawaytoalleviatethe

abuseofusingthesocialmediatobullyotherinternetusers.
Thus,statisticsareshockinglyrevealingthatin2014theAnti
CyberCrimeGroupofthePhilippineNationalPolicereportedan
increaseof113%ofCybercrimerateinvolvingtheinternetand
othercrimethatusedtheinformationcommunicationtechnology
which,unfortunately,doesnotincludeCyberBullying.
Onlineissuesandfactsleadthisresearchtodigfurtheronthe
effectivityofapplicablelawsrelatedtocyberbullying.
II.LiteratureReview:
WhatisCyberBullying?
AsstatedbyCAMARINESSurRep.RolandoAndaya,Cyber
bullyingisonesuchproblemthattheadvancementintechnology
andsocialmediahasgenerated.Itcanpotentiallyaffectnotonly
schoolagedchildren,butalsoanyindividualwhohasaccesstoa
mobilephoneortheInternet.
Astechnologyhasevolved,bullyinghasincreasedthroughtheuse
ofmoderntechnology.Chait(2006)explainedthatunlikethe
traditionalformofbullyingwherethebulliesattacktheirvictims
facetoface,perpetratorsofcyberbullyinghavethecapabilityto
usealltypesofcommunicationstechnologiestoattackothers
deliberatelyandrepetitively.
Cyberbullyingcaninvolvemanydifferentintimidationtactics,and
manyaresimilartothoseoftraditionalbullying.Liketraditional
bullying,themostprevalentformofcyberbullyingisnamecalling
andinsults.
TypesofCyberBullying

AstraditionalBullyingexistswithdifferentformsofverbalabuse
andphysicalviolence,therearealsomanytypesofCyber
Bullying.TheCenterforSafeandResponsibleInternetUse,aUS
basednongovernmentorganization,enumeratedin2009thetypes
ofCyberBullying.
*FlamingOnlinefightusingelectronicmessageswithangryand
vulgarlanguage.
*HarassmentRepeatedlysendingmeanorinsultingmessages.
*DenigrationSendingorpostinggossiporrumorsabouta
persontodamagehisorherreputationorfriendships.
*ImpersonationPretendingtobesomeoneelseandsendingor
postingmaterialtogetthatpersonintroubleordangerorto
damageareputationorfriendship.
AsCyberBullyingprogressinthePhilippines,alawmaker
proposedabillaimingtodefineandpenalizethecrimeofCyber
Bullying.CamarinesSurRepresentativeRolandoAndayaalso
includethetypeofCyberBullyingUndertheBilloftheAnti
CyberBullyingActof5718whichincludes:
*Repeatedsendingofoffensive,rudeandinsultingmessage,
distributingandbelittlinginformationaboutthevictim;
*Postingorsendingofoffensivephotosofthevictim,whether
digitallyalteredornot,orweretakenwithorwithoutconsent,as
longasithasintentiontohumiliateandembarrassthevictim;
*Breakingintoanemail,socialnetworkingoranyelectronic
accountandusingthevictimsvirtualidentitytosend,uploador
distributeembarrassingmaterialstooraboutothers,sharingthe
victimspersonalorembarrassinginformationandsharingitto
othersandrepeatedsendingofmessagessuchasthreatsorharmor
engaginginonlineactivitiescausingfearonvictimssafety.
TraditionalBullyingVs.CyberBullying
Eachdayschoolchildrenlearnvaluableskillsandlessonsfrom
theirteachersaswellasthroughinteractionswiththeirpeers.

Althoughschool,undoubtedly,isbeneficialtoFilipinoyouths,
therearesomeexperiences,suchasbullying,thatmaynegatively
affectandstickwiththesechildrenfortherestoftheirlives.
AccordingtoGALEStudenResources,TraditionalBullyingisany
typeofbullyingthatiscarriedoutthroughanonelectronicmeans
whichincludesverbal,physicalandsocialabuse.Allthesethree
involvetheharassmentofavictimbyanaggressorwhoseintentis
toinflictharm.CyberBullyingasmentionedwasbasedinmodern
technologythatonlyneedinterpersonalinteractionbetweenthe
bullyandhisvictimthroughmoderncommunicationtechnology.
TheprogressionofbullyingfromtraditionaltoCyberBullyingis
oftenequatedintheadvancementofoursociety.Thisanonymity
makesiteasierfortheoffendertostrikeblowsagainstavictim
withouthavingtoseethevictimsphysicalresponse.(Donegan
2012)
NauancesofElectronicCommunicationinCyberBullying
Cyberbullyinghasmadeitswayalongsidetheprogressand
developmentthatmoderntechnologybrings.Theuseofelectronic
communicationhasplayedacriticalroleintheprevalenceofcyber
bullying.Hence,Massachusettslawprovidesthedifferentways
electroniccommunicationhasbeenexploitedtocommitCyber
bullying1.
Firstly,throughtheuseofanytechnologyoranyelectronic
communicationthatinvolvesanytransferofsigns,signals,writing,
images,sounds,data,orintelligenceofanynaturetransmittedin
wholeorinpartbyawire,radio,electromagnetic,photoelectronic
orphotoopticalsystem,includingbutnotlimitedtoelectronic
mail,internetcommunication,instantmessagesorfacsimile
communicationsaimforinsult,abuseordefamationtoward
1 Kowalski, Robin M. Limber, Susan: Cyberbullying: Bullying In the
Digital Age, (year of publication)

anotherperson.Thisincludesdistributionofconfidentialdigital
contentsorinformationtointimidate,embarrassandcausemental
distresstowardsanotherperson.
Secondly,whenelectroniccommunicationlikesocialmedia
accounts,areusedusedforimpersonation.Electronic
communicationcanbeexploitedforcyberbullyingviathecreation
ofawebpageorbloginwhichthecreatorassumestheidentityof
anotherpersonforexploitationofhis/herownpersonal
information.Theknowingimpersonationofanotherpersonasthe
authorofpostedcontentormessages,distributionofelectronic
meansofcommunicationorthepostingofmaterialinanelectronic
mediumthatmaybeaccessedbyoneormorepeopleultimately
directedatcausingmentaldistress,defamation,embarrassment,
towardsanotherperson2.
VictimsofCyberBullying
ArecentconcernofCyberBullyingwasalsoraisedby
EnvironmentalistandHumanRightsdefenderAyeenKarunungan
whowaspromptedtofileacaseaftershereceivethreatsonsocial
mediabecauseofherstatementscondemningthepositionof
MayorRodrigoDuterteontheuseofcoalaswellasonallegations
ofhumanrightsabusesagainsthim.
Lawsapplicabletocyberbullying
Whattodowhenbeing(Cyber)Bullied

PurposeoftheStudy

2 Kowalski, Robin M. Limber, Susan: Cyberbullying: Bullying In the

Digital Age, (year of publication)

Thepurposeofthisstudyistodeterminehowpastandcurrent
lawseffectivelydealtwithcyberbullyinginthePhilippines.This
studywillalsoinvestigatehowanissueaboutcyberbullyingwas
handledbythegovernmentandtoidentifyifchangesarestill
neededonthecurrentlawsthatwehave.Inaddition,thisstudy
willalso
explorepossiblesolutionstoaddresstheincreasingcyberbullying
rateinthePhilippines.
Howdoyouplantodealwiththeproblem?Whatisyoursolution
a.Methods:
b.Discussion
c.Conclusion