END CYBERBULLYING

Over the last 15 years, billions of people around

the world have jumped onto the social media bandwagon,
and platforms have battled for our attention spans by
inventing features to keep people engaged. Social media
enable us to keep getting entertained, and at the same
time, informed in any issues going around in our
surroundings. However, it can also allow people to do
cruel things that could lead anyone to harm themselves.
That is where cyberbullying comes out, wherein a person
or a group of people would use online platforms to bully
someone, that is a repeated behaviour of scaring,
angering and shaming those who are targeted.

In social media, people would spread lies and post

embarrassing photos or videos of someone, send hurtful,
abusive or threatening messages, images or videos through
messaging platforms, and even impersonate someone and
send mean messages to others on their fake accounts. When
these action happens online, it can make a person feel
being attacked everywhere, even inside of his/her own
home. It can seem like there’s no escape that could
affect a person mentally, emotionally, and physically.
The feeling of being laughed at or harassed by others,
can prevent people from speaking up or trying to deal
with the problem. In extreme cases, cyberbullying can
even lead to people taking their own lives.

According to Kyodo News, on May 23, 2020, Hana

Kimura, a former professional wrestler killed
herself after appearing in the Japanese reality TV show
Terrace House. Kimura’s pink hair, toned form, and
energetic temperament helped her become known as a public
figure in Japan but, also attracted a lot of criticism
and harassment online which led her to end her life
using toxic gas. Her death raised awareness of
cyberbullying and the pressure she faced to conform to
social expectations. This evidently shows that bullying
online can put someone’s life on the line.

However, instead of hurting themselves, why can’t

they just defend themselves and report the bullies? Why
let them continue to do that inappropriate behaviour? Why
can’t they just be open in expressing what they feel to
their loved ones, instead of bottling it up and ruin
their mental health? These are usually the questions that
some people ask to those who gets bullied, but never
thinks of how difficult it can be to that person to do
such things because in most cases, bullies would threaten
them if they will try to attempt on reporting it so they
cannot help themselves and some people are faint-hearted
that they cannot continue to live through that kind of
serious maltreatment for so long that they end up hurting
and killing themselves.

Ending cyberbullying is not just about calling out

bullies, it’s also about recognizing that everyone
deserves respect, either online or in real life. With
that being the case, it is better for organizations like
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), international cyberbullying and child
protection experts to team up with Facebook, Instagram,
Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and other social media
platforms to answer some of the most common questions
about online bullying and give advice on ways to deal
with it. In addition, it is acceptable to carry on with
banning or restricting people who uses disrespectful and
unfitting words, images, or videos to hurt someone’s
feelings.

References:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/rise-and-fall-of-social-
media-platforms/

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/05/77d3f1ede7a4-
suicide-note-written-by-japanese-netflix-star-hana-
kimura-found.html