Effects of Harassment on Academic Performance: A Case of University Students of Lahore

This research study attempted to explore the effects of cyber harassment and traditional harassment on the academic performance of university students. Likewise, investigating the influence of this harassment on substance usage was another prime objective of the study. For this purpose, students of four Lahore based universities (2 public, 2 private) were taken as population. Similarly, using convenience sampling, 150 respondents from each university were selected to meet a total sample of 600 students. For data collection, a cross-sectional survey method was used; however, for data analysis, a one-way analysis of variance was done so that demographics differences could be checked. Whereas Pearson product-moment correlation was applied to tests the relationships between IVs and DVs. Results evidently found that the majority of the students faced one or both types of harassment, i.e. traditional and cyber, which resulted in their indulgence in substance usage practices.

An Effective Model for Fraud Risk Management in Mitigating Telecommunication Fraud Incidences

In the context of Malaysia, the most common types of cyber attacks are denial of service, intrusion attempts, spam, vulnerability report, fraud, malicious code, and content-related attacks as reported by Cyber Security Malaysia. However, since 2011, cyber attacks such as intrusion attempts, denial of service and spam are decreasing steadily as a result of security measures that have been taken by companies or internet users. Nevertheless, cyber attacks which are steadily increasing are cyber harassment, intrusion and fraud. Approximately 5,328 fraud incidences were reported in 2011 while in 2020, the number of cases rose to 7,593 cases. Out of these cyber attacks in Malaysia, the most proliferating ones have been identified as fraud incidences. Thus, it is highly needed to come up with and propose the best fraud risk management strategy to handle fraud incidences among internet users and internet providers through the utilization of business intelligence tools, and quality enhancement via quality systems in place, quality information, and quality users. With these tools in hand, it is hoped that the proposed model will serve as a framework to mitigate and/or prevent the occurrence of fraud incidences.

Appraising the Impact of Kenya’s Cyber-Harassment Law on the Freedom of Expression

Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act makes it an offence, in Section 27, for a person to communicate with another a message that they know or ought to know would cause the recipient fear; is indecent or offensive in nature; or would detrimentally affect the recipient. This offence carries a penalty of either a 20 million shilling fine or a 10-year term of imprisonment or—discretionarily—both. While the offence is termed ‘cyber-harassment’, its wording appears to exclude a number of offences that would count as cyber-harassment such as cyber-stalking, doxing or impersonation. In fact, its wording is vague and overbroad, using undefined terms such as ‘detrimentally affect’ which require subjective interpretation. Cyber-harassment laws constitute a limitation on the freedom of expression and as such, ought to conform to the limitations of human rights test as provided in Article 24 of the Constitution. Where the aim sought is legitimate in a democratic society and other conditions such as legality are met, this limitation is valid. This paper reviews Kenya’s law that was recently upheld by the High Court in Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) v Attorney General & Three others; Article 19 East Africa & another and finds that it fails to meet the limitations test prescribed under Article 24 of the Constitution. It argues that Section 27 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act is therefore overbroad and has the potential to be used as a tool for the unconstitutional suppression of legitimate criticism.

Distant Psychological Violence: Prospects for Improvement of Criminal Legislation

The article researches the legal issues of protection from various forms of distant psychological violence arising in electronic communication. The study aims to assess the public danger of cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment among potential and real victims in order to develop recommendations for improvement of domestic legislature. The main results of the study have been obtained by surveying 207 individuals and by means of comparative review of domestic and foreign law. The results indicate that distant violence does take place, but its assessment by legislators and the public is highly controversial. Cyber-harassment is commonly seen as a more dangerous phenomenon than cyber-bullying or cyber-stalking, which raises a question of its criminalization in the law. This necessitates a correct definition of sexual harassment in distant form as there are risks of either intruding into the field of socially acceptable behavior or overlooking the socially unacceptable ones.

Cyberbullying Text-messages: Iterative Qualitative Methods for Intervention Design with Adolescents (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Effective, acceptable programs to reduce consequences of cyberbullying are needed. OBJECTIVE This study used “Agile” qualitative methods to refine and evaluate the acceptability of a mixed-modality intervention, initiated within the context of usual pediatric care, for adolescents with a history of cyber-harassment and cyberbullying victimization. METHODS Adolescents were recruited from an urban primary care clinic to participate in three consecutive iterations of the program. All participants completed a brief in-clinic intervention followed by 8 weeks of daily, automated text messaging. After 2 weeks (iteration1 and iteration2) or 8 weeks (iteration3) of messaging, participants completed semi-structured interviews that sought feedback on intervention experiences. Framework matrix analysis expeditiously summarized participant feedback and guided changes in each iteration. Daily response rates assessed participant engagement, and satisfaction questionnaires assessed acceptability. RESULTS Nineteen adolescents (age 13-17) reporting past-year cyber-victimization enrolled: 7 took part in iteration1, 4 in iteration2, and 8 in iteration3. Participants were an average age of 15 years, 58% were female, 63% Hispanic, and 21% White. Participant feedback was used to adjust intervention content and design. Participant satisfaction (from 0% excellent to 80% excellent) and engagement (from 60% of daily assessments completed to 80% completed) improved from the first to the third iteration. CONCLUSIONS This study shows the value of structured participant feedback gathered in an Agile intervention refinement methodology for development of a technology-based intervention targeting adolescents.