Understanding cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, or online bullying, is when someone uses technology to bully a person or group with the intent to hurt them socially, psychologically or even physically. Cyberbullying has evolved rapidly because of technology. It used to be mostly text-based, using email, texting and messaging apps, but now there is also image-based abuse, including deepfake images and videos made with artificial intelligence (AI). Most cyberbullying happens on social media1 but it also happens on online platforms, in forums and gaming communities, and with AI.
Social media restrictions
From 10 December 2025 new Australian Government laws prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining social media accounts. Visit eSafety for more information.
Cyberbullying can involve contacting someone directly or indirectly on public forums, posting material intended to hurt or humiliate. It incorporates other forms of bullying such as social bullying (for example, actions intended to exclude, embarrass or humiliate), verbal bullying and threats of physical bullying.
What makes cyberbullying different?
There are some unique features that set cyberbullying apart from face-to-face bullying. Face-to-face bullying, either direct or indirect (such as exclusion or manipulation), can only happen when the person doing the bullying is physically present.
Cyberbullying:
- happens in and out of school – and is often experienced at home
- can happen at any time and, due to the mobile nature of technology, can be relentless and continuous
- is constantly changing and evolving with technology
- can have bigger impacts than single face-to-face actions because of the potential and fear of sharing and publication across multiple platforms
- can remain on the internet long after the original post is deleted – potentially forever
- enables students to bully anonymously, which can make intervention and identification of the person cyberbullying difficult
- when done anonymously, can enable those bullying to be nastier than they might be face-to-face, especially as they might not see the harm they cause and so can be less likely to feel empathy for those they are bullying
- can be more ambiguous than face-to-face interactions because there’s no non-verbal communication
- is harder for bystanders to spot and intervene
- can make it harder for students being bullied to ask for help.3
Cyberbullying, or online bullying, can happen on a range of devices.
Defining cyberbullying
The definition of bullying includes the repeated misuse of power in relationships, with the intent to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. These defining elements can present slightly differently online than in face-to-face bullying.
The element of repetition changes when bullying goes online. A single image or post created to hurt or embarrass someone can be viewed multiple times and reposted by others, potentially forever. This increases the potential for ongoing harm.
Repetition of bullying is not just about the number of times that incidents of bullying and cyberbullying happen. It’s also about the effect on the person who is being bullied ‘who may fear that a once-off event could be repeated and reshared online’.4 Each single negative online event experienced by someone being bullied can feel like multiple, repeated incidents.
Offline, factors like social status, age, physicality and being seen as different can create power imbalances between people. Online, this can look quite different. Someone who may have little social power in everyday life can be very good at using technology to get more power online.5
Anonymity can also create power imbalances. When a child or young person is cyberbullied anonymously, they might not know who is doing it and they may feel powerless to control or escape the situation.6 Hiding behind anonymity can create a power imbalance that can be used to cause harm.
Intent in bullying is about purpose, awareness and repetition of harmful behaviour. This can be less clear-cut in cyberbullying, because online interactions have fewer verbal, non-verbal and physical cues. Bullying is not accidental behaviour: it is deliberate, intended to hurt or harm the person being bullied.
According to UNESCO, ‘where a child or young person knows their behaviour is harming/hurting someone, or will be perceived as harmful/hurtful by the individual being bullied'7 and their behaviour continues despite that awareness, they are acting with deliberate intent. This indicates that the behaviour is bullying. Understanding the setting and what’s considered normal in that setting, and how the behaviour fits into that, can help clarify if the intent was meant to cause harm.
However, the impact of the behaviour on those who are being bullied matters as well. Even if there is no intent, if negative behaviours repeatedly harm another, it is still necessary to intervene.
Just like with face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying is not the same as having a conflict or disagreement with someone. Cyberbullying occurs when an individual or group deliberately uses digital technology to abuse their power and repeatedly engage in aggressive or harmful behaviour against someone who can’t easily defend themselves.8
Being in an online conflict or using digital technology to have arguments with friends is not bullying because there is equal social power between the students involved. Bullying and cyberbullying happen when there is an unfair balance of power, and someone intentionally uses harmful or negative behaviours to hurt someone else.
- Craig, W., Boniel-Nissim,M., King, N., Walsh, S., Boer, M., Donnelly, P., Harel-Fisch, Y., Malinowska-Cieślik, M., Matos, M., Cosma, A., Eijnden, R., Vieno, A., Elgar, F., Molcho, M., Bjereld, Y., & Pickett, W. (2020). Social media use and cyber-bullying: A cross-national analysis of young people in 42 countries. Journal of Adolescent Health, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.006; Aizenkot, D., & Kashy-Rosenbaum, G. (2020). The effectiveness of safe surfing, an anti-cyberbullying intervention program in reducing online and offline bullying and improving perceived popularity and self-esteem. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 14(3), 23. https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2020-3-6 as cited in Sae-Koew, J., Gonsalkorale, K., & Cross, D. (2024). Protecting children and adolescents from cyberbullying: An evidence review of risk and protective factors and effective interventions.
- Aizenkot, D., & Kashy-Rosenbaum, G. (2020). The effectiveness of safe surfing, an anti-cyberbullying intervention program in reducing online and offline bullying and improving perceived popularity and self-esteem. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 14(3), 26.
- Sae-Koew, J., Gonsalkorale, K., & Cross, D. (2024). Protecting children and adolescents from cyberbullying: An evidence review of risk and protective factors and effective interventions. (p.44)
- UNESCO (2024). School bullying, an inclusive definition (p. 2). https://antibullyingcentre.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UNESCO_Fin_Def_August_24.pdf
- Law, D.M., Shapka, J.D., Hymel, S., Olson, B.F., & Waterhouse, T. (2012). The changing face of bullying: An empirical comparison between traditional and internet bullying and victimization. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 226–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.09.004 as cited in Aizenkot, D., & Kashy-Rosenbaum, G. (2020). The effectiveness of safe surfing, an anti-cyberbullying intervention program in reducing online and offline bullying and improving perceived popularity and self-esteem. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 14(3), 23. https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2020-3-6
- Sae-Koew, J., Gonsalkorale, K., & Cross, D. (2024). Protecting children and adolescents from cyberbullying: An evidence review of risk and protective factors and effective interventions. (p.26)
- UNESCO. (2024). School bullying, an inclusive definition. https://antibullyingcentre.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/UNESCO_Fin_Def_August_24.pdf
- Sae-Koew, J., Gonsalkorale, K., & Cross, D. (2024). Protecting children and adolescents from cyberbullying: An evidence review of risk and protective factors and effective interventions. (p.26)