History Main / Cyberbullying

Occasionally, when a series or movie tackles this subject, the writers [[CriticalResearchFailure Did Not Do The Research]] and it can lead to a CluelessAesop when covering the issue. This falls under the InternetSafetyAesop since cyberbullying is a frequent problem.

Occasionally, when a series or movie tackles this subject, the writers [[CriticalResearchFailure Did Not Do The Research]] and it can lead to a CluelessAesop when covering the issue.

* A video, incorporating video clips of the Music/TaylorSwift song “White Horse” and the 2011 movie [[Film/Cyberbully2011 Cyberbully]], ends with a gunshot, implying a suicide had taken place because of what’s suggested to be cyberbullying.

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* ''Film/GnomeAlone'': While trying to get back a MacGuffin necklace from [[AlphaBitch Brittany]] at the school dance, our heroine Chloe has to make the choice between her {{Nerd}} friend Liam and [[AlphaBitch Brittany]]'s approval. When Liam tries to storm off, one of Brittany's groupies trips him with her foot and causes him to FacePlant onto the floor. For further humiliation, she snaps a picture and posts it online with her phone so they can all laugh about it over and over again.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Film/Cyberbully2011'': The plot, as implied by the title, is about protagonist Taylor suffering from severe cyberbullying after insulting an AlphaBitch online- most of the bullying involves SlutShaming and spreading rumors. Because the bullying is online, however, Taylor and her mother struggle to get any proper justice served over it.

Sadly this is TruthInTelevision, so Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

* ''Series/CobraKai:'' In Season 1, this was Yasmine's go-to tactic for making fun of [[YouAreFat Aisha's size]] (for example, posting: "the buffet table is under attack")

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sb_hero_what_is_cyberbullying_option_2_0.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[BeCarefulWhatYouSay Words hurt worse than weapons.]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' comic ''Holiday Special'': Revolves around an online bully called Anon-a-Miss leaking secrets about students. Everyone thinks it's Sunset Shimmer but it's actually [[spoiler:Applejack's younger sister Apple Bloom and her two friends]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

-->'''Erica Albright''': The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink. And you published that ''Erica Albright was a bitch'', right before you made some ignorant crack about my family's name, my bra size, and then rated women based on their hotness.

* ''Film/TheNet1995'' has Angela Bennett become marked for murder when she discovers that the Gatekeeper anti-virus software also allows back-door access to any system running it. When a hired hitman fails to kill Angela, the evil Praetorians tamper with Angela's identity, making her into a wanted fugitive with no credit and no finances.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', John and his friends are harassed by anonymous jerks online, in what is explicitly referred to as trolling [[spoiler: (and the trolls turn out to be from an alien race literally called trolls)]]. This is contrasted with later on in the narrative when Jane and her friends are jeered (''[[InsistentTerminology not]]'' trolled) via chat by Caliborn, who is the brother of one of their friends. After an incident where Caliborn calls Jane fat and terrible (while also hitting on her), which causes her to burst into tears, the narrative explicitly refers to this as cyberbullying. In both cases, the harassers have a near-omniscient view of the harassed's lives and actions, which they are able to exploit for their taunts.

* ''WebVideo/EchoRose'': Upon arriving in town, Echo decides to follow an Instagram account called "Nettlebrook's Fallen Angels", and discovers it to be nothing more than a bunch of spoiled high-school girls targeting, harassing, and SlutShaming other students. She is appalled, but unsure of what to do about it, as she works as a janitor at their school, and didn't want to be seen as creepy.

Sadly this is TruthInTelevision, so Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease

[[caption-width-right:350:[[BeCarefulWhatYouSay Words hurt worse than weapons]]]]

-->'''Erica Allbright''': The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink. And you published that ''Erica Albright was a bitch'', right before you made some ignorant crack about my family's name, my bra size, and then rated women based on their hotness.

* ''Film/{{Unfriended}}'': The central characters are gradually revealed to have the ringleaders in a cyberbullying campaign that drove one of their classmates to suicide. Now someone (or something) is seeking revenge. [[spoiler:That someone turns out to be the ghost of the classmate, who gets her revenge on all of them come the end of the film.]]

Cyberbullying is a particular type of harassment that is done over digital devices such as cell phones, computers, and tablets. Adolescents are often targeted although people of any age can be subjected to it. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website stopbullying.gov, presents three distinct types of issues that distinguish it from other types of bullying: Persistence, permanency, and lack of noticeability.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* A rare heroic version of this trope occurs in ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole''. The New Kid finds themself surrounded by [[DirtyKid the Raisins Girls]] and about to receive a beating--when suddenly, all of the girls' phones began beeping non-stop with rumors, fake tweets, and social media accounts vanishing. It turns out it's the work of Wendy Testaburger, whose superhero persona Call Girl is a PlayfulHacker specializing in accessing people's social networks and devastating them. When used in battle, Call Girl's attacks involve hacking into people's phones for damage (and, when that fails, simply [[BoringButPractical beating them with a selfie stick]]). It's definitely ProtagonistCenteredMorality, as Call Girl is clearly cyberbullying her targets, but it's also made clear that Wendy only goes after jerks and villains, not everyday people.

* ''Film/{{Unfriended}}'': The central characters are gradually revealed to have the ringleaders in a cyberbullying campaign that drove one of their classmates to suicide. Now someone (or something) is seeking revenge.

Cyberbullying is a particular type of harassment that is done over digital devices such as cell phones, computers, and tablets. Adolescents are often targeted although people of any age can be subjected to it. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website stopbullying.gov, presents three distinct types of issues that distinguish it from other types of bullying: Persistence, permanency, and lack of notice-ability.

Cyberbullying is distinct from {{Troll}}ing in that the latter is agitating groups of people, being the former targeted at one person specifically. Trolling can easily become cyberbullying, however, should a troll turn attentions on an individual.

* Downplayed in ''LightNovel/MyYouthRomanticComedyIsWrongAsIExpected'': One of the first cases for the Service Club was about discover who was making cyberbullying to [[BigManOnCampus Hayato Hayama]]'s [[SatelliteCharacter three male friends]] saying bad rumours about them. This case was managed by [[TheSnarkKnight Hachiman Hikigaya]] [[spoiler:by getting Hayama out of equation so the 3-member workgroup was fullfilled by the three guys so they can meet each other without having Hayato as the center]] and with this the rumours are over and all is back to normal.
* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Otonashi Meru is normally a quiet girl. Give her a cell phone and she will heap piles of verbal abuse at you.

* ''Film/MySpy'': During one of her bus rides towards school, two girls sitting in front of Sophie's seat seize the opportunity to take pictures of Sophie's jelly-covered face and post it on "Insta" for giggles.

* In the MadeForTVMovie ''Social Nightmare'', a student's chances of getting into a good college hang in the balance when inappropriate photos of her are posted on the Internet and eventually she's cyberbullied with SlutShaming.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Downplayed in season-two. When Joy is trying to chase Nina out of the school so she can get Fabian, she takes to the internet, and chooses to write a nasty, anonymous article about how much Nina sucks. All of it is done with the intention to cause harm, and her being anonymous was intended to keep her free from consequences...until she got busted, and everyone turned on her for it.

** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS18E10ConniesCelica Connie's Cellica]]", [[AlphaBitch Connie D'Amico]] is expelled from school after assaulting Lois (who was the new music teacher). [[NeverMyFault Rather than take responsibility for her actions]], Connie resorts to hacking Lois's facebook account and ruining her reputation out of [[EvilIsPetty spite]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' episode "[[Recap/BigCityGreensS1E16 Cyberbullies]]" focuses on Cricket, Tilly and their friends getting harassed by a trio of online bullies known as the Cyber Knights, who repeatedly force the kids to bow down to them. Cricket helps the others learn to stand up for themselves and not run away for the rest of their lives so they can take the bullies down.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[BeCarefulWhatYouSay Words hurt worse than weapons]]]]

Can overlap with NewMediaAreEvil, when the digital medium itself is blamed for the bullying rather than putting the onus on the bully, as well InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube, when Website/YouTube could be just one way a bully targets a victim. Thanks to the nature of smartphones having built-in cameras and wi-fi capability, the bully could also double as a malicious form of CameraFiend. This may be one motivation for {{Catfishing}}. Eventually can involve SuicideDare and lead to DrivenToSuicide for the victim. See also SocialMediaIsBad, when social networks and internet forums are seen as a way to exploit cyberbullying and as tools for cyberbullies.