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Title Four out of 10 teenagers have experienced cyberbullying, one more person than last year
Date 2023-04-07 Read 2217
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC, chairman Han Sang-hyuk) and the National Information Society Agency (President Hwang Jong-sung) released the results of a 2022 cyber violence survey on a total of 17,253 teenagers and adults (approved statistics No. 164003).

41.6% of teenagers and 9.6% of adults experienced cyberbullying

The cyberbullying experience rate (including as an assailant, a victim, and both) of Korean teenagers was 41.6%, up 12.4%p from the previous year, while the rate of adults was 9.6%, down 6.2%p from the previous year.

In particular, both adolescents and adults tend to have a higher experience rate as a victim (21.0% for adolescents and 5.8% for adults) than experience rate as an assailant (4.1% for adolescents and 1.1% for adults). It implies that assailants do not recognize their behavior as violent and a few people can harm a large number of people in cyber violence.

By gender, both male adolescents and adults have more experiences and by age, middle school students among adolescents, and people in their 20s among adults have more experiences of cyberbullying as assailants and victims.

Both adolescents and adults have cyberbullying experiences mostly using “verbal violence”

In terms of cyberbullying, cases of “verbal violence” were much higher than other types of cyberbullying. The rate of verbal cyberbullying experiences in adolescents increased significantly compared to the previous year, while the rate in adults decreased, demonstrating that verbal violence has the biggest impact on the rate of cyberbullying in total.

The main route of cyberbullying was online games, followed by text and instant messages, and social media for teenagers. For adults, it was text and instant messages. Online games take up the biggest share in the experiences as assailants and social media take up the biggest share in the experiences as victims.

The main motivation for cyber violence is "revenge" for teenagers and "fun and prank" for adults

38.4% of adolescents answered "revenge" and 39.2% of adults answered "fun or prank" when they were asked about motivation, but "revenge" was the second highest response for adults as well, indicating a vicious cycle of cyber violence in which victims become assailants and vice versa.

After being cyberbullied, the most common response was "It did not bother me" both for adolescents and adults at 59.2% and 42.2% respectively, but "a sense of revenge" (28.8% for adolescents, 26.1% for adults) was the second most common answer, and both adolescents and adults felt negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, lethargy, and even emotional anxiety including suicidal impulse in a serious case.

In addition, adolescents had the highest psychological state of "sorry for the victim (61.0%)", while adults’ most common psychological state was "justification (45.6%)", "no feeling (40.0%)", and "interest and fun (29.2%)", showing the significant lack of seriousness or guilty conscience over cyber violence for adults compared to adolescents.

Differences in cyberbullying prevention education and perception between adolescents and adults

Regarding cyberbullying prevention education, nine out of 10 teenagers (88.7%) and one out of 10 adults (10.4%) said they received the education, and adults (52.8%) know less about the level of penalty and what penalty is sentenced than adolescents (43.8%), calling for more prevention education eligible for adults.

The social environment, such as family or school, makes a difference in the presence or absence of cyber violence experience

Regarding the role of families and schools, adolescents had less experience in cyberbullying (up to 6.6%p difference between those who have experienced and those who have not experienced cyberbullying) when parents and schools are interested in their Internet and smartphone usage, and adults had lower experience rates (up to 8.7%p difference between those who have experienced cyberbullying and those who have not) when they are supported by the family.

12.5% of adolescents and 14.6% of adults experienced digital hate expression

Regarding "digital hatred," which expresses prejudice and discrimination against a specific individual or group because of the gender, disability, and religion in the digital space, 12.5 percent of teenagers and 14.6 percent of adults said they had experienced digital hate expression, down 8.3 percentage points and 2.6 percentage points respectively compared to the last year.

In detail, appearances (5.5%) take up the largest share, followed by nation, ethnicity (4.3%), and specific generation (4.0%) for teenagers, and for adults, political orientation (9.6%) was the most common answer, followed by region (5.4%), and religion (4.5%).

10.0% of teenagers and 14.5% of adults have witnessed digital sex crimes

The experience rate of witnessing digital sex crimes was 10.0% for teenagers and 14.5% for adults, up 0.7%p and down 0.4%p from the previous year, respectively. By type, illegal video distribution was the most common answer for both teenagers and adults, and the second common answer was illegal hidden cameras (5.5%) for teenagers and insulting families or friends (8.7%) for adults.

Regarding the cause of the spread and reproduction of digital sex crimes, "weak punishment (26.1%)" for teenagers and "to make money (31.6%)" for adults were the most common responses.

Kim Jae-chul, director-general of the Consumer Policy bureau of the KCC, said, “The number of cyberbullying among teenagers is increasing, and overall, cyberbullying tends to be downplayed as retaliation or joke.”

The results of the 2022 cyber violence survey are on the website of the KCC (www.kcc.go.kr) and the Beautiful Internet World (www.아인세.kr).
File (보도자료) 청소년 10명 중 4명이 사이버폭력 경험 지난해 보다 1명 증가(3.24).hwpx (보도자료) 청소년 10명 중 4명이 사이버폭력 경험 지난해 보다 1명 증가(3.24).hwpx
20230324_News_Release_violence.docx 20230324_News_Release_violence.docx
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