CYBER BULLYING CASES

CYBER BULLYING CASES

36.

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) the total number of cyber bullying cases reported in 2008 and the number of cases involving students; (b) the number of arrests made and if no arrests were made, why not; (c) whether the bullies will be prosecuted; and (d) given that the victims are invariably young and unable to afford civil action against the perpetrators, if specific legislation will be introduced to exempt such prosecutions from the usual criminal procedure and trial process so as to curtail the distress and psychological harm to the victims.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Cyber-bullying generally refers to the phenomenon of threatening, harassing, embarrassing or isolating a person through the medium of e-mails, blogs, postings on websites, instant messages or text messages. Anyone who uses electronic media as a means of communication is susceptible to it, but victims of cyber-bullying are often youths.

We do not have specific laws against cyber-bullying but there is no immunity for acts conducted via the Internet. We can deal with cyber-bullying under our existing laws where an offence is made out. Potential offences in cyber-bullying cases would include criminal intimidation or insulting the modesty of a woman. Cyber-bullies are liable to be prosecuted if such offences are committed. Police does not track cyber-bullying cases.

If the cyber-bully is prosecuted in Court, the offender may be tried by the Juvenile Court if he or she is below the age of 16 years at the point of pleading guilty to the offence. There is no necessity to enact specific legislation to exempt such prosecutions from the usual criminal procedure and trial process as there are sufficient safeguards in our laws. For example, the Children and Young Persons Act, or CYPA, provides sufficient safeguards for both the youth offender and victim through provisions on protection of identities of young persons involved in hearings. The Evidence Act also provides for witnesses below the age of 16 years to give evidence through live video or live television links.

A key lever to addressing the phenomenon of cyber-bullying is education and awareness. Cyber-bullying is one of the topics covered in the Cyberwellness Framework developed by the Ministry of Education to enhance the schools' cyberwellness education efforts. The framework includes a series of lessons that increases students' understanding of cyber-bullying and its negative effects, as well as providing information on preventing and dealing with incidents of cyber-bullying. MOE has also been collaborating with various agencies like the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore to support schools in their efforts to educate both students and parents about cyberwellness. Specifically, MOE partners MHA in the National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation, which encourages and creates platforms to transmit the cyberwellness message to youths.

Nevertheless, despite the best efforts, there will be cases of cyber-bullying which can go unnoticed by the schools. As cyberspace is pervasive and extends beyond the bounds of the school, parents need to be vigilant about their children's activities, including their

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on-line activities. Close cooperation between parents and schools can help identify children who are victims of cyber-bullying so that appropriate steps can be taken.

We have no plans to enact specific offences related to cyber-bullying at this point in time as we think it is not necessary, but we will monitor the situation.

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