# Cyberbullying > Cyberbullying, coined by Canadian educator Bill Belsey in 2003, describes deliberate, repeated online harassment of individuals through digital platforms, gaining prominence after teen suicides in the 2000s. Cyberbullying is the use of digital communication tools to deliberately and repeatedly harass, threaten, or humiliate individuals online. The term was coined by Canadian educator Bill Belsey around 2003[18], though discussion of online harassment dates back to at least 1996[13]. What began as a niche concern among early internet safety advocates became a major public health and legal issue after a series of teen suicides in the mid-to-late 2000s drew worldwide attention to the problem. ## Origin Formal discussion of online harassment began on May 14, 1996, when Canadian lawyers David Potts and Sally Harris presented a paper titled "Defamation on the Internet" at the Legal Issues on the Internet conference in Toronto[13]. The paper examined how existing defamation law applied to the emerging world of online communication, laying early groundwork for how the legal system would grapple with digital abuse[4]. The specific term "cyberbullying" came from Bill Belsey, an Alberta-based teacher and Queen's University graduate who had founded the anti-bullying website bullying.org in 2000[21]. After the site started receiving stories from students being harassed online rather than just in person, Belsey recognized the need for a distinct term and resource[18]. He launched cyberbullying.ca on March 3, 2003, creating what's widely considered the first website dedicated specifically to the issue[23]. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Belsey explained that he fused William Gibson's concept of "cyberspace" with "bullying" out of necessity, because no word existed for what kids were describing[18]. The first newspaper article about cyberbullying appeared in The Kingston Whig-Standard on March 29, 2003[15]. The piece cited the case of David Knight, a student in Burlington, Ontario, whose classmates had created a website to anonymously post hateful messages calling him slurs. Knight eventually left school and finished his studies at home. He told the CBC that unlike schoolyard bullying, "cyberbullying doesn't go away when you get home from school"[15]. - **Platform:** bullying.org (awareness site), MySpace / AIM / early social networks (behavior) - **Creator:** Bill Belsey (coined the term, launched cyberbullying.ca), David Potts and Sally Harris (early legal scholarship on online defamation), Parry Aftab (founded StopCyberbullying.org) - **Date:** 2003 (term coined), 1996 (earliest formal discussion) ## Overview Cyberbullying covers a wide range of aggressive behaviors carried out through electronic means: sending threatening text messages, spreading rumors on social media, posting embarrassing photos without consent, creating fake profiles to deceive victims, and organizing group harassment campaigns[5]. What separates it from traditional bullying is reach and persistence. A cruel message posted online can spread to thousands of people and stay accessible long after it was sent[14]. Victims often can't escape it by leaving school or going home, because the harassment follows them through their phones and computers. Research defines cyberbullying as "an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself"[5]. The behavior ranges from relatively minor annoyances like rude comments to severe cases involving sustained campaigns of threats, doxxing, and identity theft. Tactics include humiliation through edited images, gossip spread via group chats, impersonation through fake accounts, and coordinated pile-ons across platforms[1]. The scope of the problem is significant. A 2007 Pew Research study found that 32% of teenagers who regularly used the internet had been cyberbullied in some form[14]. Girls reported higher rates than boys, with 38% of online girls experiencing harassment compared to 26% of boys[14]. By the mid-2010s, some researchers estimated that over half of adolescents had encountered online bullying[5]. ## How It Spread The issue gained early media traction through specific high-profile cases. In May 2004, Macleans Canada covered the cyberbullying experienced by Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager whose "Star Wars Kid" video went viral after classmates uploaded it without his consent[4]. Raza's family filed a lawsuit against the students involved, and Raza sought counseling for the harassment he endured. Organized prevention efforts followed quickly. In November 2004, privacy lawyer Parry Aftab launched NetBullies.com, and in February 2005, she created StopCyberbullying.org, the first American cyberbullying prevention program[17]. The site advised victims to step away from the computer, block harassers, and tell a trusted adult[4]. That same April, the Cyberbullying Research Center was established to track bullying trends in schools. Their data later showed that an average of 23.9% of middle school students had experienced online harassment between 2007 and 2011[22]. The Pew Internet and American Life Project released its first major cyberbullying report on June 27, 2007, finding that the most common form of harassment was having private communications forwarded publicly without permission, affecting 15% of teens surveyed[14]. About 13% reported having rumors spread about them online, and another 13% had received threatening messages[14]. Despite these numbers, 67% of teens said bullying happened more often offline than online[14]. ## How to Use "Cyberbullying" isn't a meme template in the traditional sense. It's a concept that gets referenced, satirized, and discussed across meme formats. Common uses in meme culture include: - **Dismissive humor**: Jokes about how cyberbullying can be "solved" by closing the laptop, a sentiment popularized through Urban Dictionary entries and social media posts[6]. These often take the format of mock-serious "scientific discoveries." - **Commentary memes**: Image macros or text posts pointing out how platforms fail to address harassment, often using formats like the Drake meme or expanding brain. - **Self-aware posts**: People making jokes about receiving mean comments online, framing it as either badge of honor or minor inconvenience. - **Awareness campaigns**: Serious posts using meme aesthetics to share statistics or hotline numbers, particularly during anti-bullying awareness weeks. ## Cultural Impact The cultural footprint of cyberbullying as a concept extends far beyond memes. By 2008, school districts across Florida, South Carolina, Utah, and Oregon had created new anti-cyberbullying policies[1]. New York City began enforcing bans on communication devices in school buildings, and Washington state passed a law requiring cyberbullying prevention as part of school harassment policies[1]. The legislative response grew substantially after each high-profile tragedy. Missouri's 2008 law made cyberbullying punishable by up to four years in jail[24]. Multiple states and countries followed with their own legislation, though enforcement and scope varied widely. Legal scholar Naomi Harlin Goodno noted that many existing stalking and harassment statutes fell short because they required a "credible threat" of physical harm, which didn't cover the kind of sustained emotional abuse typical of cyberbullying[19]. Major technology companies responded through partnership with advocacy groups. Microsoft sponsored the Anti-Defamation League's teacher-training programs, Facebook and MyYearbook hosted anti-cyberbullying pledge pages, and Google backed internet safety guides[24]. Parry Aftab's Wired Safety organization convened industry executives from Facebook, Verizon, MySpace, and Microsoft alongside hundreds of teenagers at the International Stop Cyberbullying Conference[24]. The Tyler Clementi Foundation, established after Tyler's death, advocated for anti-harassment policies across educational institutions[9]. Ryan Halligan's father John became a prominent public speaker, presenting at schools nationwide about his son's story and lobbying for legislative reform[10]. The PBS Frontline episode "Growing Up Online" (2008) examined Halligan's case as part of a broader look at teen digital life[10]. In academic settings, cyberbullying became one of the most studied aspects of youth digital behavior. A meta-analysis summarizing 19 existing reviews from 2007 to 2018 found strong negative associations between cybervictimization and depression, suicidality, anxiety, self-harm, and low self-esteem[3]. The Cyberbullying Research Center at cyberbullying.org became a primary hub for researchers, educators, and policymakers[22]. ## Fun Facts - Bill Belsey's first article in The Kingston Whig-Standard included examples of then-unfamiliar "cyber speak" like "Ur guna git a!-( 2day" (meaning "you're gonna get a black eye today") to show parents what digital bullying looked like[15]. - The United States v. Drew case was prosecuted in Los Angeles rather than Missouri because MySpace's servers were located in California[8]. - Tyler Clementi's roommate Dharun Ravi originally claimed he set up the webcam because he was "worried about theft," not to spy[9]. - A 2007 study found that teens who received rude text messages were six times more likely to say they felt unsafe at school[1]. - Despite widespread concern, 67% of teens in 2007 said bullying happened more often offline than online[14]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is the deliberate, repeated use of digital tools like social media, text messages, and email to harass, threaten, or humiliate another person[5]. It includes behaviors like spreading rumors online, posting embarrassing photos without consent, sending threatening messages, and creating fake profiles to deceive victims[14]. ### Where did cyberbullying come from? The term was coined by Canadian teacher Bill Belsey, who launched cyberbullying.ca on March 3, 2003[23]. Discussion of online harassment in legal contexts goes back to at least 1996, when Canadian lawyers David Potts and Sally Harris presented a paper on internet defamation[13]. ### What does cyberbullying mean? It refers to any form of bullying carried out through electronic communication. The National Crime Prevention Council defines it as "the process of using the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person"[5]. ### How do you use cyberbullying in meme culture? In meme contexts, cyberbullying is most often referenced through dismissive jokes about "just closing the laptop"[6], commentary on platform failure to address harassment, or awareness-raising posts that use meme formats to share statistics and resources[2]. ### Is cyberbullying still popular as a topic? Yes. It's an ongoing public health and policy concern, with new research, legislation, and platform policies emerging regularly. The COVID-19 pandemic reignited discussion as screen time increased across all demographics[5]. ### Who coined the term cyberbullying? Bill Belsey, an Alberta-based teacher who founded bullying.org in 2000, is widely credited with coining the term. He combined William Gibson's "cyberspace" with "bullying" after students began reporting online harassment to his anti-bullying website[18]. ### What was the Megan Meier case? In 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier of Missouri died by suicide after being cyberbullied through a fake MySpace profile created by her neighbor Lori Drew and others. The case prompted Missouri to pass one of the first state cyberbullying laws[7][12]. ### What happened in United States v. Drew? Lori Drew was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for creating a fake MySpace profile used to harass Megan Meier. She was acquitted of felony charges but convicted of misdemeanors, which were later overturned by Judge George H. Wu, who found the legal theory unconstitutionally vague[8]. ### How did Tyler Clementi's death impact cyberbullying awareness? Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers student, jumped from the George Washington Bridge in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to spy on him with another man. The case brought national attention to cyberbullying targeting LGBTQ+ youth and led to the founding of the Tyler Clementi Foundation[9]. ### What was Ask.fm's role in cyberbullying? The anonymous social platform Ask.fm was linked to at least nine teen suicides in the US, UK, and Ireland in roughly one year around 2013, as users exploited anonymity to send sustained abuse to vulnerable teens[16]. ### Can memes be a form of cyberbullying? Yes. When someone's photo is taken without consent and edited into a meme with humiliating captions, it constitutes cyberbullying. A 2014 McAfee study found that 87% of teenagers had witnessed cyberbullying online, and memes are an increasingly common vector[2]. ### What laws exist against cyberbullying? Laws vary by jurisdiction. Missouri passed an early state law in 2008 making cyber-harassment punishable by up to four years in jail[12]. Many US states and other countries have since enacted similar legislation, though a proposed federal cyberbullying law in 2008 did not pass[24]. ### How common is cyberbullying among teenagers? A 2007 Pew Research study found 32% of online teenagers had experienced some form of cyberbullying[14]. Girls reported higher rates (38%) than boys (26%), and teens on social networks were more likely to be targeted (39%) than those who didn't use social platforms (22%)[14]. ### Does cyberbullying affect mental health? Research strongly links cybervictimization to depression, anxiety, suicidality, low self-esteem, self-harm, and substance misuse. A meta-analysis covering studies from 2007 to 2018 found these negative outcomes consistently across multiple reviews[3]. ## References 1. [More Teens Victimized by Cyber-Bullies - The New York Times]() 2. [Memes have become a new way to cyberbully – The Pearl Post]() 3. [Frontiers | Cyberbullying in a Multicultural Context—Forms, Strain, and Coping Related to Ethnicity-Based Cybervictimization]() 4. [Cyberbullying - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Cyberbullying]() 6. [Cyberbullying - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Suicide of Megan Meier]() 8. [United States v. Drew]() 9. [Suicide of Tyler Clementi]() 10. [Suicide of Ryan Halligan - Wikipedia]() 11. [Meme-ingful Analysis: Enhanced Understanding of Cyberbullying in Memes Through Multimodal Explanations]() 12. [Missouri passes cyber-bullying bill - Los Angeles Times]() 13. [Defamation on the internet]() 14. [Cyberbullying | Pew Research Center]() 15. [Untitled Document]() 16. [9 Teenage Suicides In The Last Year Were Linked To Cyber-Bullying On Social Network Ask.fm]() 17. [Home | Parry Aftab - The Privacy Lawyer]() 18. [ChangeMaker: The Downside of Criminalizing Cyberbullying | HuffPost News]() 19. [Ask.fm and Teen Suicides - Business Insider]() 20. [Cyber Bullies Hard to Stop : NPR]() 21. [Parents: Cyber Bullying Led to Teen's Suicide - ABC News]() 22. [Download the free app to overcome bullying.]() 23. [Letters to My Brother | Out.com]() 24. [Cyberbullying Research Center - How to Identify, Prevent, and Respond]() 25. [www.cyberbullying.ca | "Always On? Always Aware!"]() 26. [Professional Development Provider: Bullying.org-Bill Belsey - Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration]() 27. [A rallying cry against cyberbullying - CNET]() 28. [More Teens Victimized by Cyber-Bullies - The New York Times]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/cyberbullying Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library