Abusive websites

Bullying UK has seen an explosion in abusive emails, instant messages and unpleasant websites containing offensive and often obscene or threatening remarks about other pupils. Most internet complaints we receive are about Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, Piczo and YouTube.

All social networking websites like MySpace and Bebo have ways to contact the website to get the content removed but they need to act much more quickly than they do at the moment. Not all content is removed on request, we've had complaints that some of these websites have refused to remove unpleasant material.

Because none of the content is moderated, essentially people can upload what they like, however, it doesn't matter whether the bully has done so anonymously, they can still be traced by the police and could be prosecuted for harassment.

The computer used to upload the material can be tracked by internet service providers and the police.

If a pupil is receiving threats or abuse by email then internet service providers have contact email addresses for complaints and this will normally be abuse@hotmail.com , abuse@btinternet.com or whichever system the sender is using. They shouldn't reply to the email or delete it, forward the whole thing to the sender's ISP.

If one of your pupils is named on an abusive message board or website then let us know and we will contact the website host to try to get it closed down. We have had success doing this in the past.

In 2005 we closed down a series of message boards in the Hertfordshire/north London area where pupils were being identified by name, school and year and others were invited to post abuse about them. These boards were reported to Hertfordshire Police following complaints to us by parents and pupils.

Among problems we identified were:

A death threat Serious racist abuse A girl who tried to kill herself due to abuse A teenager on anti-depressants who was afraid to go out due to threats	Numerous threats of violence Numerous bogus messages posted in the names of people being targeted A boy who lost all his friends as a result of postings made in his name

All message boards run by private individuals are hosted by firms and you can often find an address to complain to in the 'help' section of the board. In our experience firms usually act swiftly to shut down the board because allowing abuse to be posted is against their terms and conditions.

Even if the people posting this abuse do so using a false name, they can still be traced because the firm which hosts the website will keep logs which detail where uploads have been made from. You can't access this information but the police can.

If offensive comments are being made by instant messenger the pupil's parents should print them out and make a complaint to the police if the messages are threatening or if there are so many of them that they could be considered to be harassment.

Suggest the pupil changes their IM details and only gives them to genuine friends.


Contact us on help@bullying.co.uk if you need more help.

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Abusive websites / Bullying policies / Bullying in sport / National Bullying Survey 2006
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