The digital world and the way that Maltese society is interacting virtually has been an area that we have been exploring together in the past few months through the digital rights study that I commissioned.

Having discussed how essential social media and the need to interact virtually has become in our society, we must not fail to notice which social issues we have shifted online through the use of these new town squares. Since most of our contact now comes through virtual means, it is easy to see how even negative traits of our daily human interaction has shifted online.

Cyberbullying has, unfortunately, become a regular form of virtual abuse in this age and this is a situation that can affect all age groups. The study has shown that around 70 per cent of Maltese society make use of social media platforms, with Facebook being the prevalent network. According to the data, Facebook remains the most popular platform for users aged over 25, with over-45s relying almost entirely on it for their social media presence.

It has become very easy to hide behind a fake account and bully others through various means

It has become very easy to hide behind a fake account and bully others through various means, such as the sharing of private information and sharing negative opinions and thoughts. It is an unfortunate fact that online bullying can have a faster and wider spread than traditional bullying, which means that what we share is being seen by a much larger audience.

Research in the past years has highlighted the fact that around 10 per cent of children aged 11 in Malta report being cyberbullied and this study did not take into account the increased use of social media in the past year.

Tackling cyberbullying is one of the main contributors of making the digi­tal world a safer space and that is why it was an honour for me to meet with bBrave recently.

bBrave is a Maltese NGO that is working wholeheartedly to tackle the issue of cyberbullying by aiming to raise awareness of different forms of online bullying and educating about its effects, which can be very devastating. They also seek to help individuals who are currently suffering from cyberbullying, so I felt it was essential to discuss with them how we, as a society, should tackle this issue.

Cyberbullying can be seen as one of the results of an increased addiction to social media, with 82.3 per cent of the respondents who confessed an addiction to social media spending a minimum of three hours a day using these platforms.

In addition, the greatest perception of addiction is found among users under 34, who are also the category which makes use of social media for longer periods, with 52.4 per cent of the 16 to 24 age group and 46.8 per cent of the 25 to 34 age group spending at least three hours on social media every day.

From the study, one can conclude that evidence emerges of a particularly disruptive effect of social media on people’s behaviour, especially the younger respondents.

This is a new form of dependency which is affecting the younger generations and its impact on their development should not beunderestimated.

These findings are rightfully alarming but we must use this information to make us more aware of the issues that the dependence on virtual communication bring with it.

Although legislation is an important tool which must play its role, ultimately, all of us must tackle issues such as cyberbullying and online addiction by educating ourselves about the risks that exist as well as regarding the resources and organisations that can help in these situations, such as bBrave.

Alex Agius Saliba, Labour MEP

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