Online poll | Overwhelming majority concerned over cyberbullying

An overwhelming majority of respondents in a MaltaToday online poll said they were concerned about their children's exposure to cyber-bullying.

In the latest online poll 75% of all respondents agreed that their children could be victimised by bullies online while 16% said that they are aware of the dangers posed by the net but their children are not likely to be targets of cyber bullying.

A total of 1,937 respondents took part in the poll, which saw 1,448 respondents admit that they feared cyber bullies might target their children, while 308 respondents played down the danger of cyber bullying.

A further 9% of respondents said that they were not aware of the problem.

Earlier this month, former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando launched an online petition calling on people to take a stand against cyber-bullying, through a new organisation he is fronting, the Anti-Cyberharassment Alliance.

To date, over 2,300 persons have signed the petition which calls for the introduction of a law making cyber stalking and cyber harassment a criminal offence.

Pullicino Orlando's petition proposes that cyber stalking and cyber harassment should be considered to be criminal offenses that come into play under state anti-stalking laws, slander laws, and harassment laws.

The former MP is also proposing that a conviction should result in a restraining order, probation, or even criminal penalties against the assailant, including jail.

He said the Anti-Cyberharassment Alliance would be organising a number of public events in the coming weeks, in a bid to influence new laws that deal with the issues of cyberstalking, harassment and bullying, and to have MPs legislate against internet bullying.

Pullicino Orlando's initiative is seen as an attempt to lead a counter-attack against his nemesis, blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Ever since his embroilment in an embarrassing planning scandal during the 2008 elections, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was the bane of Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose Running Commentary blog targeted the MP and his relatives with an incessant barrage of verbal mockery with the aid of some unsightly Facebook snapshots.

On launching the petition, Pullicino Orlando, who today chairs the Malta Centre for Science and Technology, did not fail to point out that "cyber harassment may also take the form of blogs or entire websites designed to upset, bother or verbally attack the victim or victims."