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THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL

PRESPECTIVE

THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL


PRESPECTIVE

AUTHORS: SUPRIYA DASH AND AKSHADA DHAGAMWAR


THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

ABSTRACT
Social media is a new phenomenon which swept into the world recently. It fuses technology with
social interaction viainternet based applications that allow the exchange ofuser-generated
content. With the advancements in the technology and connectivity came unforeseen banes of
cyber offences.The cyberspace has made information available to huge strata of the society to be
used or misused by them. Such misuse has brought individual from virtual to real world to
commit offences.

Cyber bullying is one such growing global problem with serious consequences and it has preyed
majorly on women and children of young and tender ages, harming their privacy and reputation
either by threatening or harassing them through the electronic media. The focus of this paper
would be on the exploitation of children via cyber bullying. It is easy to threaten and intimidate
the young minds forcing them into undesirable situations. Children have been targeted majorly
by way of leisure and entertainment. The recent news has been flooding with one such mode: The
Blue Whale challenge, gaining popularity through social media. Not just Blue Whale but many
other games and bullying activities have been continuing since ages which need legal attention.

The objective of the paper is to analyzethe procedures and laws prevailing in India through
which Cyber Bullying may be prevented. It would further discuss international lawsprevailing
and provision of cyber bullying in other countries whilehighlighting the need fordefining cyber
bullying from Indian perspective.The paper would finally discuss the legal complexities of this
important topic and propose future directions for research and prevention programs based on
public perspective.

KEYWORDS:Cyber bullying, Electronic media, Harassment, International law.


THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. 2
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4
WHY IS CYBERBULLYING DIFFERENT? ............................................................................................. 5
MODES OF CYBER BULLYING ............................................................................................................... 6
INSTANCES OF CYBER BULLYING ................................................................................................... 6
INDIAN LEGISLATION ............................................................................................................................. 8
REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO CYBER BULLYING VICTIMS ........................................................... 8
INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATIONS IN DIFFERNET COUNTRIES .................................................... 10
GAMES AS A MEDIUM: THE BLUE WHALE CHALLENGE ............................................................. 11
GOVERNMENT’S REACTION TO THE GAME ................................................................................ 12
SUGGESTION ........................................................................................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 14
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION
Technology, innovation and development are often synonymous to each other. However, danger,
threat, security concern are growing repercussions to the widespread use of developmental
ideologies.

With the increasing usage of the electronic media has increased the methods which can now be
used to torture people through these ways. The global menace has grown its ambit to the bigger
strata of people and has become dangerous. Bullying certainly is not a newly emerged problem
but it has its roots back to the 1900s and has made it just stronger day by day with developments
in the form and method even though law, regulations and morals have given a hard time to
weaken the roots

Cyberbullying (also known as cyberstalking) has increased significantly in the past few decades.
The term Cyberbullying was coined by a Canadian Educator, Bill Belsey. Cyberbullying is a
method of finding personal information through electronic media and misusing that personal
information to comply with the needs of the cyber bully. This has, in the recent era became the
most common form of harassment, mainly amongst the students and teenagers. The age group of
8-22 is extremely vulnerable and prone. It has created long term negative consequences and
physical and mental torture.

In the latter half of 2015, Intel Security released its Teens, Tweens and Technology Study 2015,
which revealed that 81 percent of Indian children between the age of 8 and 16 were active on
social media networks and of these 22 percent reported being bullied online.1 As Per a report2,
normal kids spent more than 5 hours a week in the internet.

As per U.S. Legal Definitions, Cyber bullying could be limited to posting rumors or gossips
about a person on the internet bringing about hatred in others’ minds; or it may go to the
extent of personally identifying victims and publishing materials severely defaming and
humiliating them. 3

1
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q; last visited on 15/10/2017.
2
McAfee Intel Security report of Indian tweens (8 to 13) and teens (13-17) in cyberspace.
3
http://nobullying.com/cyber-bullying-all-you-need-to-know; last visited on 15/10/2017.
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

India is a country which has the third highest number of recorded cases of cyber bullying. 4
Children have mostly been the targeted audience for such harassment, satisfaction and
fulfillment of criminal ideology. It is very issue to convince or influence this age group because
they are vulnerable and quick to manipulate. The frequency of cyberbullying is higher than many
western nations including the US (15%), Britain (11%) and France 5%.5 With even more
shocking statistics 14% of the teenagers have considered suicide as an option and 7% of them
attempted the same.6

Even though no direct physical form of contact, cyber bullying is proven to be more traumatizing
than the other forms of bullying. The days when bullying was limited to school backyards or lane
to home is far gone.7 The technological advancement via the internet is used as a growing
medium to reach people and intimidate, embarrass or harass the younger generation of
people.The humiliation can be an eminent danger to the reputation of person, state of mind, or
humiliate a person.8

The cybercrime officials recently highlighted the fact that they receive about 30 calls regarding
cybercrime every month and, compared to last year, there has been a 50 per cent rise in such
cases.9 The attempt to harass people can be either continuous orfor short period. The intention
behind such an act can be dangerous, it could be either revenge or just for fun thing. A cyber
bully can be anyone-a closely related friend or a random Facebook guy.

WHY IS CYBERBULLYING DIFFERENT?


Cyberbullying and traditional bullying is different only in the sense of its impact and
consequences. Cyber bullying, audience- being at large and on cyber space, it is long lasting and
is independent of location and most importantly, the victim will have no idea about the intensity

4
The global youth online behaviour survey, conducted by Microsoft
5
http://www.business-standard.com last visited on 5/10/2017
6
A report by centre for Disease Control and Prevention
7
https://sites.google.com/site/cyberbullyingawareness/traditional-bullying-vs-cyberbullying. U.S v. Drew, 259
F.R.D. 499 (C.D. Cal. 2009). Last visited on 16-10-2017
8
Ciol Bureau, India lacking laws to curb cyber bullying, http://www.ciol.com/india-lacking-laws-curb-
cyberbullying/. Last visited on 16-10-2017
9
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Telangana/2017-08-03/Cyber-bullying-on-rise last visited on 16/10/2017
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

and power of the cyber bully.There are limitations to face to face bullying in context with the
time when it can be done, place and in front of limited audience and by limited people.10
Cyberbullying is different from cyberstalking in the context that all persons engaged in online
harassment is cyber stalking.11

MODES OF CYBER BULLYING


It’s very easy to make someone fall prey over in the advancing world, the methods and
techniques used varies about the intention of the cyber bully. Bullying is no longer a problem
that is isolated to the playgrounds, hallways and lunch rooms of schools 12, Chats in personal
window, instating messaging, web pages, cellular telephones, mobile phones, e-mails or through
games such as blue whale challenge which are increasing in ambit and the negative influence.
Facebook is the major source of cyber bullying as per a survey conducted by Ipsos, a global
market research company.13 Tagging inappropriate pictures, spreading rumors, insulting
comments and filming and posting videos online, threatening to post confidential information or
pictures, for instance are few forms. Abuse to personal information of a person such as photos,
blogs, etc. sending viruses to destroy the information of the other person, through mobile phones
are also some types.14

INSTANCES OF CYBER BULLYING


1. In 2006, a resident of Thane created a fake account of a college student and posted
obscene pictures, comments and provided the girl’s number online. The girl started
receiving vulgar messages and telephone calls. After a police complaint being registered.
The man who used his personal laptop in a cyber café to commit the crime was arrested.15
2. A prospective groom posted a picture of the woman consuming alcohol and smoking
cigarette on social media following which their marriage was called off. The second
10
“Cyber Bullying and Stalking Guide”, http://cyberbullyingandstalkingguide.com/the-difference-between-cyber-
bullying-and-cyber-stalking
11
http://cyberbullyingandstalkingguide.com/the-difference-between-cyber-bullying-and-cyber-stalking/; last visited
on 17/10/2017
12
A report by National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
13
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story 1/169603.html last visited on 16/10/2017
14
Types of Cyber Bullying, (16/10/2017), http://typesofbullying.org/types-of-cyber-bullying/
15
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Cyber-bullying-cases-end-in-
acquittals/articleshow/23677287.cms; last visited on 16/10/2017
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

marriage proposal was also called off when the same picture was received by the groom
in email. A police complaint was registered and the person was arrested. Since when the
court made its decision on the case, the father of the victim was not interested in pursuing
the case since the victim was already married.16
3. An18-year-old, Tyler Clementi confessed that he was gay after the high school
graduation. His roommate Dharun Ravi used a webcam to show a video of Tyler kissing
another boy in the freshman year. Through twitter Tyler discovered that he was being
mocked and ridiculed. On September 22, 2010, Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the
George Washington Bridge. Ravi and Molly Wei were charged with invasion of privacy. A jury
convicted Ravi on 15 criminal charges, and he earned early release 20 days after
beginning a 30-day jail sentence, bias intimidation, witness tampering and hindering
arrest, stemming from his role in activating the webcam to peek at Tyler Clementi ’s
date with a man in the dorm room on Sept. 19, 2010. Ravi was also convicted of
encouraging others to spy during a second date, on Sept. 21, 2010, and intimidating
Tyler Clementi for being gay. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment
Act would require colleges and universities to have anti-harassment policies and
expanded bullying prevention programs. In February 2013, the Star-Ledger reported
that the bill was reintroduced in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives. 17

4. The Amanda Todd case: the ABC news in October 2012 reported about the video
released in YouTube which has 17 million views. After a month of posting this video,
the teenager committed suicide. She was blackmailed and bullied.Amanda began using
video chat in the seventh grade to meet new people online, and one stranger convinced
the teenager to bare her breasts on camera. However, the stranger attempted to use the
photo to blackmail Amanda, and the picture began circulating on the internet,
including a Facebook profile that used the topless photograph as the profile image. 18

16
ibid
17
http://nobullying.com/tyler-clementi/; last visited on 17/10/2017
18
ibid
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
PRESPECTIVE

5. Recently in 2016 an actress, MadhumitaChakraboty whose morphed images flooded


websites in Bangladesh raised a voice against cyber bullying. She along with her
husband filed an FIR in the Lalbazar. Result of which the Bangladesh based portal
tendered an apology and all the sites which shared these vulgar pictures have retracted.
Another article also highlighted that she was caught in a sex racket. Unfortunately, the
culprits were not arrested since it was a Bangladeshi portal, the ministry had to be
approached for the same. The case was handed over to cybercrime department of
Barrackpore. 19

INDIAN LEGISLATION
In the recent laws, there are no specific regulations which talks about cyberbullying as a crime.
The legislators have been pretending to have blind folded themselves even after the increasing
number of cases of suicide and tragic deaths of tweens and teens. Some laws have certainly come
up in different states but since the rules are applicable to school kids it is on the school official to
have or not such acceptance. Cyber bullying is more often treated as a civil matter than a
criminal matter.20The judicial department has often used existing procedures to land up to
decisions.

REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO CYBER BULLYING VICTIMS


Government of India to stop bullying has enacted a regulation called “UGC Regulations on
Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Education Institutions, 2009” which has been applied
to all the colleges or higher education institutions.21

To prohibit any conduct of any student whether by words or written or an act which has an effect
of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness a fresher or any other student, or indulging
inrowdy or undisciplined activities by any student or students which causes or is likely to cause
any annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in any
fresher or any other student or asking any student to do any act which such student will not in the

19
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Cyber-bullying; last visited on 17/10/2017
20
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cyberbullying; last visited on 17/10/2017
21
https://blog.ipleaders.in/anti-bullying-laws-in-india-schools-colleges-cyberworld/; last visited on 17/10/2017
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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ordinary course do and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame, or
torment or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of such fresher or any
other student, with or without an intent to derive a sadistic pleasure or showing of power ,
authority; and thereby, to eliminate ragging in all its forms from universities, deemed universities
and other higher education institutions in the country by prohibiting it under these regulations,
preventing its occurrence and punishing those who indulge in ragging as provided for in these
regulations and the appropriate law in force.

Although such regulations do not prevail to help cyber bullying victims, they may take recourse
to Indian Penal Code and I.T. Act. When a person is being victimized by cyber bullying, he can
file a complaint under Indian Penal code and may even apply for two kinds of offences under
I.T. Act, 2000, namely, punishment for publishing of information which is obscene and breach of
confidentiality.22Section 66A in the amended IT Act deals with these crimes. Sending any
message (through a computer) that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; any
communication which he/she knows to be false, but for causing insult, annoyance and criminal
intimidation comes under this section. This crime, under the current IT/Cyber/Criminal laws in
India is punishable with imprisonment up to three years with a fine.Posting nude pictures is the
worst kind of bullying which has severe effect on the victim. Such bullying can be punished
under section 66E. However, section 66A needs to be redefined in an unambiguous manner;
including cyber bullying in the same can solve the purpose.

Indian Penal code provides for defamatory act, outraging the modesty of a women and cheating,
giving false statements and criminal intimidation. Under section 354C, a person who takes
pictures of a woman, or watches her where she expects privacy shall be punished with
imprisonment in between one year to three years and liable to fine under first conviction. Section
354 also provides punishment for stalking and sexual harassment. Section 500 provides
punishment for the person who publishes any false statement against another and lowers down
their reputation shall be punished with imprisonment up to two years fine, or with both

22
http://www.ciol.com/india-lacking-laws-curb-cyberbullying/
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATIONS IN DIFFERNET COUNTRIES


Cyber bullying has become a major problem in the world. It is estimated that half of adolescents
have been the victims of cyber bullying.23 The statistics are startling, but not all hopes are lost.
Because of the increased cases of cyber bullying, the lawmaker has created cyber bullyinglaws to
help protect victims from online bullies and to bring these bullies to justice.

There are several states across the globe that have implemented strong and seemingly effective
cyber bullying laws. Some of the strongest cyber bullying laws in the world include: -

 Canada’s Education Act which provides for suspension of the cyber bullies from
school. It further provides for expulsion and jail time for repeat bullies.
 United Kingdom’s Malicious Communication Act provides for a punishment of six
months or more in prison and imposition of hefty fine.
 Idaho’s Jared’s Law provides that any student engaged in cyber bullying is to be found
guilty of a misdemeanor.
 Hawaii’s SB2094 Law provides for a fine of $100 per offence of cyber bullying.
 Louisiana’s H. B. 1259, Act 989 provides for a fine of $ 500 or imprisonment of up to
six months for a student who is involved in cyber bullying.
 Australia’s Federal Nature of law, cyberbullying laws varies from territory to
territory. The law in each territory takes three forms: Action by state, lawsuit by the
victim and “Articulated Industry Codes”.24
 United States: California, Connecticut, Colorado and Illinois have implemented cyber
bullying laws to punish the cyber bully with suspension or expulsion.

Some of the states which may be said to have loosest cyber bullying laws include: -

 Montana, which has no laws to protect the victims of cyber bullying, but some schools
do have policies outlined in their student handbooks.

23
Cyber stalking garnering more serious response, Associated Press, June 29, 2001, viewed on 20-10-2017.
24
Australian Law Reform Commission (2014-03-27). "Harassment and stalking offences". www.alrc.gov.au., visited
on 18-10-2017.
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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 United States: Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, and Massachusetts have no concrete laws to
protect victims of cyber bullying. In these states, it is up to the school to decide an
appropriate punishment.
 India has no specific laws to provide remedy to the victims of cyber bullying.

GAMES AS a MEDIUM: THE BLUE WHALE CHALLENGE


The Blue Whale Challenge is a 21st Century social network phenomenon that is claimed to exist
in several countries, beginning in 2016. The origin of this game and reportage surrounding it has
been in the Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.25The
significance of the name “Blue Whale” is that, the said whales are believed to bring themselves
to the shore to die, which is what the participants of the game are compelled to do. The game
involves a sequence of online ‘dares’, these dares are acts of self-harming both mentally and
physically, leaving vulnerable children at the risk of cyberbullying and cyber shaming. The
participants are required to share photographs or videos of the task to prove that it's been
completed. If a person fails to follow through or tries to quit, then he/she is also said to receive
threats promising dire consequences.26It has been stated by Philipp Budeikin, a Russian citizen
who allegedly created the game that he created the game to clean the society by provoking
people who think they aren’t worthy of living to commit suicide.

Tanya Tayal, psychologist, department of mental health and behavioral sciences, Fortis Hospital, Noida,
says, "Addiction to online gaming or challenges like the Blue Whale Challenge, is compulsive. The
individual needs to return to online world to feel calm, which interferes with the daily living activities of
the person. It has a wholesome effect on the person's personality wherein his work/academics,
relationships and health are all affected, and most of the time, the person might not be aware of his/her

addiction.”27

25
http://www.thehindu.com/society/what-is-blue-whale-game/article19611432.ece, visited on 18-10-2017.
26
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cyberbullying-blue-whale-challenge-online-game-addiction-doctors-delhi-
advise-lifest/1/1020441.html, visited on 18-10-2017.
27
Ibid
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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GOVERNMENT’S REACTION TO THE GAME


In March 2017, Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs Carmen Dan expressed her deep concerns
about the phenomenon. Mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Firea described the game as "extremely
dangerous".

In Brazil, in response to the game, a designer and a publicity agent from São Paulo created a
movement called Baleia Rosa (Pink Whale), which became viral. It relied on the collaboration of
hundreds of volunteers. The movement is based on positive tasks that value life and combat
depression. Also in Brazil, Sandro Sanfelice created the
movement CapivaraAmarela (Yellow Capybara), which proposes to "combat the Blue Whale
game" and guide people seeking help. Participants are separated between challengers, who are
the people who seek help, and the healers, who are kind of godfathers of these
people. An Adventist school in southern Paraná, in partnership with other education networks,
also sought to reverse the situation by proposing another charity game, the "Jonas Challenge"
(referring to the biblical character Jonah, who was vomited up by a large fish three days after
being swallowed by it). Other games created in Brazil in response to the Blue Whale were
the Baleia Verde (Green Whale) and the Preguiça Azul(Blue Sloth).

Author Glória Perez stated on 21 April 2017 that she plans to include the Blue Whale game in
her new telenovel, A Força do Querer. The media also stressed that the phenomenon coincided
with the controversy surrounding the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why, which addresses
the issue of teen suicide.28

In Belo Horizonte and Recife metropolitan area in Brazil, many schools promoted lectures to talk
about the Blue Whale game.The Brazilian police, who are specialized in High Technology Crime
Repression (Dercat) in Piauí is preparing a digital primer to warn young people about the
dangers of the game.29

28
"Parents warned as online suicide game 'linked to death of 130 teens' goes viral", available at
http://honey.nine.com.au/2017/04/28/09/32/blue-whale-suicide, visited on 20-10-2017.
29
"Blue Whale Challenge", available at /www.bluewhalechallenge.me. visited on 20-10-2017.
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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In the United States, one site, also called the "Blue Whale Challenge", does not identify as an
effort to combat the game, but offers fifty days of challenges that promote mental health and
well-being.

In May 2017, TenCent, China's largest Internet service portal, closed 12 suspicious Blue Whale-
related network groups on its social networking platform QQ. It said that the number of this kind
of groups is on the rise.30 The search results of related keywords was also blocked in QQ.

In August 2017, the Government of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information


Technology made a formal request to several internet companies (including Google, Facebook,
and Yahoo) to remove all links directing users to the game.31

In October 2017, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan stated that the Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has been directed to investigate the Blue Whale
game after reports of suicide around the country.BTRC released a notice urging people to call a
specific number if any web link or any information related to the Blue Whale game were to be
found. Later that month, the Bangladeshi High Court ordered a 6-month halt on special night-
time internet packages provided by various mobile operators across the country to curb suicide
resulting from the game.32

SUGGESTION
Clearly India is lacking to curb the problem of cyber bullying. It would be very useful if both, the
government and civil society were more aggressive in raising awareness and triggering change in
behavior. The solution is to make cyber laws stricter as current law under the IT Act 2000 is a
bailable offence with three years’ imprisonment and a fine.

30
"Tencent closes suspicious network groups on Russian ‘Blue Whale’ suicide game”, available at
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0509/c90000-9213015.html, visited on 20-10-2017.
31
"Blue Whale: Fears in India over 'viral suicide game' mount as 'government calls for internet giants to ban links to
it'", available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/blue-whale-suicide-game-latest-news-india-online-
viral-internet-google-ban-links-a7954786.html, visited on 20-10-2017.
32
"BTRC launches helpline for raising Blue Whale awareness", available at
https://web.archive.org/web/20171016163756/http://en.prothom-alo.com/science-technology/news/162561/BTRC-
launches-helpline-for-Blue-Whale-awareness, visited on 20-10-2017.
THE BESIEGE OF CHILDREN BY CYBER BULLYING: THE INDIAN LEGAL
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There is no specific complaining authority under the Act for such purpose. As soon as the child
encounters bullying on the internet, parents should act. They can approach to the law
enforcements; inform the police and the school authorities

The IT Act 2000 should be re-amended to introduce specific provisions pertaining to cyber
bullying. Further, cyber bullying needs to be made a serious offence with minimum five years’
imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10 Lakhs. Unless there is deterrence in law, it will continue to be
a prevalent offence.

CONCLUSION

Cyber bullying is one of the offences which can take an ugly shape in the future and needs to be
addressed soon. Indian laws are well drafted to tackle cases of physical aspect but when the
cyber space comes into play, the Indian law fails. It can take place in many forms and can be
tried under different provisions of existing laws but doing so will affect evolution of cyber laws
in India. There is a need for defining separate laws for cyber offences since the mode,
consequences, gravity and probable targets are different. 75 % of the tweens and teens are on the
internet and needs to be protected by the law. If law is not made, many cyber bullies will be left
open and victims will suffer the consequences and defeating the concept of justice.

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