The past year has seen a 55% spike in online bullying, a report by the Israel Police's child protection hotline (105) showed.
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Formed in 2016 as part of a government decision to establish a national program for the prevention of online violence and crime against minors, Unit 2015, which operates under the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit, is one of a kind in the world of law enforcement, comprising law enforcement with civilian experts.
According to the data released on Sunday, 2020 – especially the period between March and October 2020, a period during which Israel instated two nationwide lockdowns over the coronavirus pandemic – saw 3,235 police complaints lodged over online shaming, social boycotts, the distribution of compromising photos and videos, bullying, and sexual harassment, compared to 2,772 complaints in 2019.
About 25% of the reports were about sexual offenses. Many reports involved a threat of suicide, the data showed.
The most dubious platforms for minors in 2020 were the WhatsApp messaging app and Instagram photo and video sharing app.
About 2,317 of the reports to the police child protection hotline involved WhatsApp and 2,755 reports involved Instagram. Some 16% of online bullying and shaming incidents took place on Stips, an Israeli questions-and-answers platform, and 7% happened on Chinese video-sharing app Tiktok.
They are followed by the Stipes Forum with about 16% of the referrals and Tiktok with about 7% of the referrals.
The data further shows that the majority of the victims are aged 14-12 and about 67% of them are girls. The majority of the offenders are aged 15-12 and about 80% of them are boys.
Some 33% of the calls to the children protection hotline are made by parents, 26% are made by the victims themselves, 19% of the cases are reported by people who witnessed them, and 8% of the calls are made by teaching staff.
"The troubling data collected by Unit 105 reflect what our children have been going through in the virtual sphere over the past year. The internet offers many positive things, but it is also a very dangerous place for children and teenagers," Community Affairs Minister Orly Levy-Abekasis said.
"We have the responsibility, as parents, to keep our eyes and ears open and to contact 105 if we suspect anything. We will spare no effort to make sure our children remain safe, online, too," she said.
Unit 105 Commander Maj. Gen. Etty Betzer urged anyone who feels they have been victimized to contact the hotline.
"We will prosecute offenders to the full extent of the law," she asserted.
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