U.S. cyber bullying environments 2021

During a January 2021 survey, it was found that 75 percent of online harassment victims in the United States had been cyber bullied via Facebook. Twitter and Instagram ranked second with 24 percent of responding victims stating that they had been harassed on each platform.

The most targeted age groups in online harassment

Among adults, those aged between 18 and 29 years old are the most targeted group in cyber bullying. As of September 2020, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults who use the internet reported having experienced some form of online harassment. Almost two-thirds of them were between 18 and 29 years old. More than 50 percent of the respondents of that age group had experienced offensive name-calling online. According to the survey of U.S. adults, the next most targeted group in cyber bullying are people between 30-49 years old.

Reasons for online hate

There are various reasons why people bully others in the online environment. The most common one in the United States is political views. In 2020, 55 percent of U.S. internet users who had experienced online hate and harassment said their political views were the reason. Physical appearance was among the most common reasons for online hate, 35 percent of the time. Among other reasons were race and ethnicity, gender, religion, and occupation.

Who experiences harassment more often?

Among U.S. internet users, men tend to experience online harassment more than women. A survey from September 2020 showed that 43 percent of male respondents had experienced some form of online harassment, whereas 38 percent of female respondents reported having experienced at least one kind of online harassment. However, women experienced three times as much online sexual harassment compared to men. Similarly, women also experienced stalking more than men.