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Indian children reported cyberbullying at rates over double the global average, placing them at the top among other countries, with 85 per cent of kids reporting both being cyberbullied and havingbeing cyberbullied themselves, finds the latest report by McAfee.
“Cyberbullying in India reaches alarming highs as more than one in three kids face cyber racism, sexual harassment, and threats of physical harm as early as the age of ten—making India the number one nation for reported cyberbullying in the world,” said Gagan Singh, Chief Product Officer, McAfee.
In India, parents reported that 42 per cent of children have experienced racist cyberbullying, which is 14 per cent more than the global average of 28 per cent. Also, 48 per cent of the kids said that they have cyberbullied someone they know, versus 21 per cent of children in other countries.
Read more: Indian children among youngest to reach mobile maturity: report
India also reported notable instances of cyberbullying, including the spread of false stories (39 per cent), exclusion from groups and dialogues (35 per cent) and name-calling (34 per cent). According to the report, on practically every social media and messaging platform, cyberbullying targets youngsters the most in India.
In addition to racism, extreme kinds of cyberbullying recorded include trolling (36 per cent), personal attacks (29 per cent), sexual harassment (30 per cent), the threat of personal damage (28 per cent), and doxing (23 per cent), all of which are almost twice as common as the global average.
Read more: Children in India cope with online risks better: study
At 45 per cent, Indian children are also more likely to hide their cyberbullying experiences from their parents compared to 25 per cent of children globally.
Nearly three out of five (58 per cent) children said that they deleted social media accounts to avoid cyberbullying, versus the 33 per cent global average—and 87 per cent said they talked to their friends about cyberbullying, which is 25 per cent above the international figure of 62 per cent.
McAfee Corp, an online protection company, released India-specific findings ahead of the publication of its global report titled ‘Cyberbullying in Plain Sight’. The McAfee Cyberbullying Report, a ten-country survey, including India, uncovered several new and consequential trends regarding cyberbullying.
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