How would you recognise if one of your friends is being cyber bullied? a) Cite the online activities which would help you detect that your friend is being cyber bullied? b) What provisions are in IT Act 2000, (amended in 2008) to combact such situations.

How would you recognise if one of your friends is being cyber bullied?

a) Cite the online activities which would help you detect that your friend is being cyber bullied?

b) What provisions are in IT Act 2000, (amended in 2008) to combact such situations.

Recognizing if a Friend is Being Cyber Bullied

To recognize if one of your friends is being cyber bullied, you can look for the following online activities:

a) Online Activities Indicating Cyber Bullying

1. Distressing Messages: Receiving insulting, threatening or degrading messages consistently.

2. Change in Online Behavior: Avoidance of social networking sites or overall reduced activity.

3. Unexplained Emotional Outbursts: Displaying anger, sadness, or anxiety after using the internet.

4. Public Shaming: Seeing embarrassing or humiliating content (like pictures or videos) about your friend being posted on various platforms.

5. Reports of Fake Profiles: Fake accounts might be created to impersonate and defame.

6. Unexplained Deletions: Deleting social media accounts or posts without clear reasons.

7. Avoiding Communication: Reluctance to talk about what they are seeing or experiencing online.

8. Expressing Helplessness: Confessing to feelings of harassment or bullying online.

b) Provisions in IT Act 2000 (Amended in 2008) to Combat Cyber Bullying

The Indian Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and its amendment in 2008, provide several provisions to combat cyber bullying, including:

1. Section 66A: Addressed sending offensive messages through communication service, etc. (This section was struck down by the Supreme Court of India in 2015 for being unconstitutional, but it was initially used to combat cyber bullying).

2. Section 66C: Deals with identity theft, which can cover certain aspects of cyber bullying if it involves stealing someone's identity to harass them.

3. Section 66E: Pertains to the violation of privacy, protecting individuals from cyber bullies who might share private images or information without consent.

4. Section 67: Relates to publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form, which can include sharing derogatory or sexual content as a form of bullying.

5. Cyber Appellate Tribunal: The act also established this tribunal to resolve disputes arising out of cyber crime, ensuring a proper judicial mechanism to handle cases.