Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Hate Speech

Cohen-Almagor, Raphael

Abstract

The Internet's design and raison d'être are complete freedom, but complete freedom might lead to anarchy and to harmful and anti-social activities. In this paper I address the concepts of moral and social responsibility, applying them to the Internet realm in considering the most troubling phenomenon of cyberbullying that results in loss of life. Specifically, I probe the moral and social responsibilities of Internet users (agents), of parents and of the education system in fighting cyberbullying. Balance needs to be struck between two most important principles: freedom of expression and social responsibility. Illustrative examples in which this disturbing and harmful phenomenon of cyberbullying had cost young life are mentioned. It is argued that all relevant stakeholders need to think of the consequences of their conduct, that Internet abusers should be accountable for their wrongdoing and be penalized, and that people who have the ability to stop or at least reduce the risk of cyberbullying should take proactive steps, exhibiting zero tolerance to cyberbullying.

Citation

Cohen-Almagor, R. (2022). Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Hate Speech. International journal of technoethics, 13(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.291552

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 10, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 14, 2022
• Journal: International Journal of Technoethics
• Print ISSN: 1947-3451
• Electronic ISSN: 1947-346X
• Publisher: IGI Global
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.291552
• Keywords: Social Sciences (miscellaneous); Engineering (miscellaneous)
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3925050