South Africans connect online more than ever, to laugh, debate, share achievements, build businesses, or simply feel seen.

A swipe can offer validation, friendship, and a place to belong. But in the same spaces where comfort is sought, cruelty has found a home. One angry post, one mocking meme, one hateful thread can unravel a person’s confidence in seconds.

Cyberbullying doesn’t discriminate. It targets schoolchildren and university students, parents juggling life’s pressures, celebrities in the spotlight, and workers trying to protect their livelihoods.

These attacks leave no visible scars, only sleepless nights, panic before opening an app, and the suffocating fear of being humiliated before the world. Online harassment follows its victims everywhere: into classrooms, boardrooms, taxis, and dinner tables.

It can destroy reputations faster than they can be rebuilt and can push even the strongest among us to the edge of despair.

What makes this crisis so devastating is that it thrives in silence. Behind the screens are real people, trying to cope with abuse that never switches off. And as technology advances, so too does the brutality. 

‘When bullying is compounded by digital shame, the psychological damage can be lifelong’

An estimated 40% of school-going children in South Africa experience some form of bullying, and one in three teenagers fall victim to cyberbullying, a relentless form of harassment that extends far beyond school grounds and hours.

That is according to the South African Society of Psychiatrists (Sasop), which has raised alarm over the growing mental health crisis linked to bullying in both physical and digital spaces.

“We’re not just dealing with bruises anymore,” said Dr Alicia Porter, board member of the Sasop. “Children are anxious, depressed and in some cases, suicidal. When bullying is compounded by digital shame, the psychological damage can be lifelong.”

‘There are gaps in South African law when it comes to addressing cyber bullying.’

South Africa’s digital spaces should be communities of connection. Instead, for far too many, they have become battlegrounds where dignity, mental health, and even lives are at stake.

Rorke Wilson, an author and associate at The Digital Law Company told IOL that there is no legal definition of cyberbullying per say. “It is captured under the whole range of offences such as harassment, criminal injuria, and things under the Cybercrimes Act,” Wilson said.

He further explained that perpetrators are rarely taken to court, especially, children.

“The ideal is for them to sort out their differences between themselves under the guidance of the school. Only if the perpetrator isn’t showing remorse and is not engaging in good faith will we take legal action,” he said. “There are gaps in South African law when it comes to addressing cyber bullying.”

Wilson added that the dissemination of non-consensual images is rampant. 

”This happens a lot with kids. The biggest gap in the law there is take the children who take intimate messages themselves become guilty of committing a crime for the creation of child pornography. This can make them apprehensive to take action against the perpetrator.”

Psychiatrists say many children suffer in silence and only speak up after enduring repeated trauma. As a result, the psychological impact often goes unnoticed until their mental health has significantly deteriorated.

Victims frequently report crippling fear of rejection, isolation, plummeting self-esteem, anxiety and academic decline.

Porter warned that emotional distress caused by bullying can extend well into later life. “Long after the bullying ends, emotional wounds remain, manifesting in adulthood as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, trust issues and relationship struggles,” she said.

“We’ve seen adults still carrying the pain of bullying they experienced decades ago. These are not just childhood memories, they’re psychological injuries.”

‘The creation of third spaces is very important’

Wilson claimed to have witnessed a trend of prosecutors refusing to take these cases forward due to the technicalities. 

There is no one platform tied to cyberbullying according to Wilson. “The problem is, no matter what platform you give these kids access to, if you don’t give them the right education, if you don’t completely account for the stage of development that they’re at, they are going to bully each other online.”

Wilson offered these steps for educators and parents to take to protect children:

• Put in an age limit in devices and raise it to 16 for social media.
• Delay the time that they have access to these online platforms.
• Get them to build emotional ties and skills in person rather than online.

“Kids want to grow into cool people and if we give them the information and structural support, they will make the choice not to be on their phones.

“A concerted effort to get more third spaces (social environments distinct from home, the first space, and work or school, the second space, where people can gather, socialise, and build community) is very important. 

Cyberbullying not prioritised

Wilson went on to say that cyberbullying may not be given priority due to the country’s staggering violence, including gender-based violence and femicide.

“We don’t always have the best reacts from law enforcement agencies,” he continued. 

He gave an example of a case the company dealt with where a 16-year-old was allegedly spreading child sexual abuse material to up to 30,000 people on WhatsApp channels.

“When we approached law enforcement with that, they unfortunately told us that they wouldn’t do anything unless we tell them who the perpetrator was, which we couldn’t… We often tell our clients not to go to the police as they may get retraumatised and they don’t get the recourse that want.”

He recommended getting protection orders.

Children generating naked images of each other

This disturbing trend is just one that Wilson has observed. It is prevalent among the 12- to 16-year-old group. 

“The Cybercrimes Act does make it illegal to disseminate someone’s intimate content real or simulated but I don’t think we have a law that captures the actual creation.”

However, according to SchoemanLaw Inc, South Africa’s laws offer multiple options for people to take action against cyberbullying. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 (ECTA) make it an offence to use any digital communication to intimidate, harass, or damage someone’s reputation, holding those who create or share harmful content accountable.

Cyberbullying involving minors can also fall under the Film and Publications Act of 1996 (FPA), which governs the distribution of harmful or inappropriate material to children.

Under this legislation, perpetrators who target young people online may face legal consequences.

“The best way to deal with an event of cyberbullying would depend on the circumstances of the incident. It follows that we need to think carefully about what we forward, share or pass on and no longer communicate, forward or post mindlessly.

“The recourse victims may have could include pursuing a complaint with the SAPS, the Film and Publication Board, or the South African Human Rights Commission. In some cases, they may also take legal action through the civil courts,” said Nicolene Schoeman-Louw.

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