Bullying On Social Media: Sufficiency of Legal Remedies For Student Protection in The Philippines

Bullying on Social media: Sufficiency of Legal Remedies for Student Protection in the
Philippines
De La Salle University
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Purpose of the Study:
Philippines, a world leader in social media usage with 67 million users now faces emerging student
safety threats. A 2015 study by Stairway Foundation revealed that the incidence of social media
bullying in the country is caused by 80% of teenagers (aged 13-16) and 60% of children (aged 7-
12) are victims of such acts. This significantly increases every year, spiking up to 71% in 2016
(Philippine National Police as used by Tupas, 2017). Given these statistics and the
increasing number of cases, it is evident that social media bullying is a pressing issue that needs
to be addressed. At an extreme, it has caused deaths and other serious repercussions to both bullies
and victims.
This led to the passage of relevant local laws and policies mandated to control such acts
endangering students' safety in the cyberspace and beyond. Some of the laws include the Anti-
Bullying Act of 2013 and Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, among others. Thus, in this
undertaking, the researchers would like to address the following objectives:
a. to determine the prevalence of social media bullying in the Philippines;
b. to identify the effects of social media bullying on students;
c. to review relevant laws and programs adopted to safeguard students' safety against social
media bullying;
d. to assess the sufficiency of such laws on the control of social media bullying; and
e. to evaluate the implications of the existing laws on policies adopted by schools and school
systems to prevent social media bullying.
Method:
The study is anchored on a supposition that the incidence of cyberbullying is caused by students’
increased social media usage and should affect how legal remedies are made and delegated to
government through its laws and the school through its rules. Furthermore, the government and
the schools are working together to control student’s usage. This leads to an understanding that
legal remedies should be reflected in laws and rules. In order to address the objectives, guided by
the researhers’ framework, in-depth review and analysis of statistics, scientific researches on both
Filipino and foreign subject, relevant laws and jurisprudences about social media bullying and its
derivatives were done.
Results:
Prevalence of Cyberbullying in the Philippines
Gabiana (2017) proposed that bullying in all economic classes is prevalent, however, in a more
urban setting, cyberbullying emerges due to its accessibility in developed places. Majority of these
incidences happened in Facebook, on of the favored social media platform by children and
teenagers alike (Stairway Foundation, 2015; Gonzales, 2014). Furthermore, Witkins’ (2012)
research showed that Filipino students are more vulnerable to cyberbullying at ages 13-14 years
old.
Multiple studies entailed varied results, although some are inconclusive, one fact still remains that
is cyberbullying continues to grow, peaking to 71% in 2016 (Tupas, 2017). A study by Stairway
Foundation in 2015 showed that of its 1286 student samples from multiple highly urbanized cities,
80% of teenagers (aged 13-16) believed that bullying happened in the social media. In a similar
study by Kaspersky Lab (2016), 7 out of 10 students have seen cyberbullying and 7% them
participated in such activity. A study on various high schools showed that 85% of their students
experienced cyberbullying, with women being more attacked than others (Baronia-Locson, 2011).
On the contrary, Sanapo (2017) showed that cyberbullying incidences involving men (both as
bullies and bullied) are slightly higher than females in Western Visayas elementary schools. She
added that 40% of the time, children are victims while 24% admitted to start bullying others.
Effects of Cyberbullying in Filipino students

Extensive literature review shows that negative effects of cyberbullying in Filipino and foregin
students can manifest into three areas: (1) physical and mental health, (2) academic performance,
and (3) societal implications. In an interview with Dr. Glenda Basubas, then president of the
Philippine Mental Health Association, remarked that cyberbullying leaves ‘emotional scars that
stay for life’ (Rallos, 2015). This statement affirmed cross-cultural researches which underscored
that cyberbullying are linked to incidences of suicidal ideations Furthermore, parents of children
who are cyberbullied express that their children felt lower self-esteem, depression, inactivity and
anorexia according to Kaspersky Lab’s research (2016).
Legislative Responses to Cyberbullying

Legislative responses were also reviewed and analyzed based on its sufficiency and related issues.
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 were assessed using United
Nation’s (2013) suggested contents for cybercrime legislation while the Revised Penal Code and
the Civil Code of the Philippines are seen on the perspective of related issues. The following
insights were found (1) Cybercrime Prevention Act is aligned with the standards suggested by the
United Nation while the Anti-Bullying Act lacks, (2) the Revised Penal Code is questioned
whether to impose criminalization on young children, and (3) the application of the Civil Code of
the Philippines is difficult because a single act of cyberbullying might not constitute the
requirements for damages and its remedies are often too costly and time-consuming.
Conclusion
As stated, the Philippines has already imposed various laws that protect its citizens particularly the
younger population from being at risk of cyberbullying. Despite this, incidences of cyberbullying
are still at high. Thus, laws are better served to be used as a guide on what would be the
consequences if an individual act inappropriately. This leads to this study concluding that proactive
measures to eradicate cyberbullying are better than reactive ones like infusion of positive
intervention as crucial deterrent of bullying in the social media. Being able to prevent the deed
through positive forms of discipline and intervention is better than finding ways to criminalize the
offenders.
The researchers further suggest that school stakeholders should take advantage of the discussed
laws and use them in formulating viable solutions to cyberbullying. These includes the
stakeholders creation of researches to address this problem and the inclusion of the study of laws
in bullying paired with social media literacy and digital citizenship curriculum
Value to Marketing Education:

Internet connectivity continues to change the landscape of marketing education. With internet
connectivity expanding, so is social media bullying. This study will help marketing practicioners
understand the needs of the younger generation – the casualties of cyberbullying.
References are available upon request

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Bullying on Social media: Sufficiency of Legal Remedies for Student Protection in the

Effects of Cyberbullying in Filipino students

Legislative Responses to Cyberbullying

Value to Marketing Education:

References are available upon request

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