4 tips for dealing with online harassment

10 May 2018

Being bullied or feeling threatened on an online platform? Here we help you recognise what online bullying can look like and give you useful steps to ensure you stay safe and happy online.

Online harassment is any unwelcome comment, photos, or other content which is used to intimidate, threaten, or attack. Examples of this type of harassment are cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and trolling. This can be a criminal offence and reports are taken seriously by social media providers and the police. The effects of online harassment can be long lasting and can have an impact on your studies, health and wellbeing.

If you find you're experiencing any of the above, there are steps that you can take to deal with the problem.

1. Talk about it

If you are being bullied on social media talk to someone about it, there are a range of people and organisations that can help you including friends, family, UCL Student Support and Wellbeing and the Students' Union Advice Service.

2. Block the perpetrator

Block the perpetrator from your account and think about protecting yourself online, like only giving your social media details to people you know and reviewing your privacy settings to restrict who has access to your account.

3. Report it

If you think you’re being harassed because of your disability, race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation, you can report the harassment to the police as a hate crime. Also report to the police if you feel unsafe or threatened in any way.