New report shows the reach of online harassment, digital abuse, and cyberstalking

data­so­ci­ety.net/blog/2016/11/21/online-harass­ment/



NEW YORK—Novem­ber 21, 2016—A new report from the Data & Soci­ety Rese­arch Insti­tute and the Center for Inno­va­tive Public Health Rese­arch offers the most compre­hen­sive picture to date of Ameri­cans’ expe­ri­en­ces with online harass­ment and abuse, finding that most U.S. inter­net users have witnes­sed online harass­ment, and almost half have perso­nally expe­ri­en­ced it.

The report, “Online Harass­ment, Digi­tal Abuse, and Cybers­tal­king in America,” is based on a nati­o­nally-repre­sen­ta­tive telep­hone survey and offers the first-ever nati­o­nal data on the preva­lence of many types of online harass­ment and abuse among Ameri­can inter­net users ages 15 and older. In addi­tion to outli­ning Ameri­cans’ expe­ri­en­ces with online harass­ment and abuse, the report also offers new insights into how victims of online harass­ment perceive and react to their abuse.

The report exami­nes a vari­ety of haras­sing beha­vi­ors ranging from online forms of “tradi­ti­o­nal” harass­ment, such as name-calling or physi­cal thre­ats, to hacking, moni­to­ring, and other inva­si­ons of privacy. It also inclu­des methods of denying the target access to online plat­forms, such as through a high volume of unwan­ted messa­ges (“message bombing”), misuse of plat­form repor­ting tools, and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.