What is digital violence?

Digital violence is a term describing abusive behaviour that takes place by electronic means rather than in person.

What types of abusive behaviour constitute digital violence?

Digital violence takes many forms, including harassment, discrimination, social isolation and degradation, for example, online bullying via gaming platforms or social networks, publishing harmful content in chat rooms or excluding individuals from group chat apps.

Why is digital violence a problem?

The impact of digital violence can be catastrophic, with cyber bullying being a significant contributory factor to a recent increase in teenage suicides.

Not only this, but digital violence often goes hand in hand with physical violence, with online threats being carried out in-person and in-person hate rhetoric being spread to a vast online audience.

Digital violence is a concern for our entire society as it undermines democracy and strengthens discrimination, particularly as AI continues to become more mainstream, increasing the likelihood that deep fake images and audio will influence public opinion.

How can the problem of digital violence be overcome?

A multi-faceted approach is required to overcome digital violence. Firstly, individuals must educate themselves about the risks and learn to identify and report digitally violent content. Prospective journalists can get a head start in this area when they begin a journalism degree such as https://schoolofjournalism.co.uk.

For the rest of us, we must rely on the implementation of robust legislation and our own threat perceptions while ensuring that support is available for victims. There is no quick or easy solution to resolving digital violence, but by standing together in condemnation of it, we are stronger.