- British Council and Sarvodaya launch new report on online violence and youth
Online and social media violence, or cyber violence, is difficult to define due to its very nature as well as due to the wide range of violations. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines cyberviolence as “the use of computer systems to cause, facilitate, or threaten violence against individuals that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm or suffering and may include the exploitation of the individual’s circumstances, characteristics, or vulnerabilities.”
Across the world, and in Sri Lanka, youth take the lead as users of the internet and social media, with many youth facing violence online. To look closer at the relationship between youth, social media, and violence, the British Council in Sri Lanka and the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning conducted an online survey to understand how youth experience online and social media violence, their perceptions of the root causes, as well as their role in perpetuating and preventing online violence. The survey used OECD’s working definition of online violence as a guideline for the survey as it captured the complexities of online violence to a great degree.
Speaking to Brunch on the importance of such a survey, British Council Sri Lanka Country Director Maarya Rehman shared that the British Council believes in amplifying youth perspectives through research such as the Next Generation report (2019) and the Youth Perception Survey on Climate Change as part of their ongoing Climate Connection campaign, which will be launched in early September, and that this research adds to amplifying youth perspectives.
“We believe this study on youth, social media, and violence is both timely and relevant, as young people have turned to social media and online platforms more than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Rehman said, adding that the report has shown that 68.9% of respondents agree that information shared on social media can go viral and propagate violence.
Brunch also spoke with the research team behind the report. Principal researcher Prof. Prasanna Perera explained that the report was compiled following a brief literature review, a survey conducted from January to March 2021 among a representative sample of 1,680 youth in the age group of 18-29 across all districts of Sri Lanka, and several online discussions. “We were happy that many youth volunteered to share their online experience with us,” Perera shared, adding: “This survey is unique as it gives a useful overview of how young Sri Lankans perceive different aspects of social media violence.”
The survey took into account various factors and perspectives, including; patterns in youths’ social media consumption in Sri Lanka; the prevalent forms of social media violence and abuse in Sri Lanka according to youth; the lived experiences of social media violence and its impacts; youth views on the root causes of online violence in Sri Lanka; the impact of Covid-19 on social media violence; awareness of the mechanisms available to take action against social media violence; and how youth can play a role themselves in making online and social media platforms safer.
Senior researcher Tania Alahendra shared that the survey painted a picture of just how complex the relationship between youth and social media is, noting that while 94% of youth think social media is important for Sri Lankan society, only 28% of youth generally trust the information that they see online.
Significantly, at least 20% of youth, a family member, or a friend had experienced at least one type of violence indicating a high prevalence of online and social media violence. For more context on what youth saw as violence online, participants were given 12 types of violence (based on the survey’s literature review) and asked to select what they felt were the most common forms of online violence. The three main types of violence youth selected were verbal abuse and criticism, inciting hate or violence against an ethnic and religious group, and receiving inappropriate content. Requests for inappropriate content, blackmail, or attempts at blackmail and inciting hate or violence against women were identified as other leading types of online violence.
During discussions, youth shared that social media live streaming generates more emotions in people even when the action, especially violence, takes place in a faraway place and also has the potential to fuel violence locally.
Srimal Bandara, the research team statistician, shared that the survey also indicated that the majority of youth are responsible users of social media, with 77% sharing that they never sharing religiously, ethnically, or sexually charged (negative) content in their social media platforms, 18% sharing that they have sometimes shared such content, and only 5% sharing that they have shared such content many times.
Youth in the survey also shared that one of the key causes of online violence is a lack of awareness (40%), followed by a lack of regulation (20%), and an intolerance of different belief systems and opinions (17%), with 43% of youth agreeing that the pandemic has seen an increase in different types of social media violence, including hate speech, fake news, and cyberbullying.
While there is a general awareness (46.5%) of the mechanisms available to take action against social media violence, youth shared that they are not familiar with more specific technology-based tools and actions, and only 20.6% have attended training programmes, workshops, or related activities on online safety. With creating safe spaces online, the survey showed that youth felt that creating awareness on social media safety and responsible use, refraining from online violence and abuse, and reporting online violence were key measures that youth themselves need to be taking to ensure safer spaces online.
Speaking on the impact of the report in the long-term, Alahendra shared that the survey provides a valuable overview of youth perspectives on the issue of cyberviolence, as recommendations from youth on fixing the problem. “The findings of the survey show that there is a lot of information already produced by many organisations active in this sector. However, it has not been adequately disseminated,” Alahendra said, adding: “In-depth research and dissemination of existing research on this topic has the potential to greatly help in minimising and preventing online and social media violence.”
The survey’s senior researcher Dr. Malani Balamayuran shared some of the key recommendations the survey makes is for the Government to improve the efficacy of the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) and other government institutions when receiving and investigating complaints, introducing better technological education and online and social media safety into school curriculums, and more awareness and rights-based education on violence – both online and offline.
The survey also calls for social media companies to take more accountability when it comes to the authenticity of their account holders, to invest in concrete measures that combat fake news and other misleading activities that contribute to violence, and for stronger self-regulation measures.
Civil society organisations were also encouraged by youth in the survey to establish a platform for networking with all stakeholders in order to play a stronger role in promoting social media literacy and responsibility and develop programmes to assist victims of social media violence to overcome trauma.
Rehman of the British Council also stressed the long-term impact of the survey in making a difference and helping overcome online violence, noting that education and awareness play key roles in moving forward. “A key finding of this study is the value young people place on education: one recommendation is for online safety to become a component of school curriculums,” Rehman said, adding: “Young people believe greater digital literacy is the paramount solution to reducing online violence and abuse.”
To read Youth, Social Media, and Violence in its entirety, please visit https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/society/youth-social-media-and-violence-research-report.