Importance of raising awareness about cyber-bullying highlighted

Manama

Leading social media users have stressed the significance of raising awareness about cyber bullying, which was highlighted by the "Have only good things to say" campaign that was launched in the presence Information Minister Ali Al Romaihi.

Omar Farooq, a social media activist, said that despite the praise for his online videos, there is a small number of people who attempt to criticise in an abusive and uncivilised manner, noting that ignoring such comments is the best solution.

Mr Farooq called on youth people to ignore negative comments and cyber bullying so that the problem does not deepen and becomes offensive to all parties.

“I have never considered filing a report against any of the bullies for their comments so that the issue is not given a greater dimension,” he said.

Mona Al Mutawa, a journalist and an activist on Twitter said she appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Information Affairs in presenting a burning issue - cyber bullying.

“The campaign should be expanded through cooperation among the ministries of information and the competent authorities in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC),” he added.

“This will help protect the Gulf community from online abuses that negatively impact public opinion and mislead people with fabrications and lies that affront individuals and societies.”

Salah Abdulmajeed, a short filmmaker, said that he was pleased to be part of the ministry’s campaign.

“Cyber-bullying is a phenomenon that some people tend to magnify,” he said. “Our advice is not to respond to abusers and to focus instead on creative work to serve the community. The aim of the bullies is to disrupt creativity and to unsettle people keen on it.”

The world is suffering from a blatant misuse of social media, disseminating inaccurate information and highlighting insolences that are alien to Gulf societies, Mr Al Romaihi said.

“Confronting social media abuses is a social responsibility that everyone, without exception, should bear through adopting a moderate discourse that shuns sedition and abuses, the minister said as he patronised the event.

“Bahrain has numerous national success stories that have demonstrated the effectiveness of using social media to spread goodness, love and peace in a way that reflects our authentic Bahraini identity,” Mr Al Romaihi said.

He thanked the Bahraini youth for their active participation in the campaign embraced by the ministry to raise awareness about the terrible effects of electronic bullying. He wished all people involved in the campaign success.

The campaign seeks to highlight the impact of words on people and society and is part of the ministry’s responsibility as a main platform for the national media to raise awareness and spread the right practices that serve the community, especially in light of the increase in the number of bullying cases and the spread of rumours in an easy way without checking their validity.

The Information Minister pointed out that Bahrain possesses stories of success that confirmed the effectiveness of using social media networks to promote goodness, tolerance and peace.

He thanked the Bahraini youth for their active participation in the national drive which is adopted by the Information Ministry to raise awareness of the repercussions of cyber-bullying.

The campaign aims to sensitise people to the importance of the word on individuals and the society.

It is also part of the Information Ministry’s responsibility as a main national media platform to raise awareness and promote good practices that serve the community, especially amidst the rising number of bullying cases and the easy spread of rumours.