4 In 10 Indian Consumers Involved In Online Bullying: Microsoft

Nearly 38 per cent of consumers across India comprising 34 per cent of adults and 43 per cent of teenagers said they were involved in an online bullying incident, according to a recent digital civility report by Microsoft.

About 25 per cent of respondents said they were the target and 17 per cent a bystander or witness to bullying or harassment.

The study included a total of 32 geographies with 4,511 people surveyed across nine countries in Asia Pacific (Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam).

Adult respondents were also asked about bullying, also known as harassment, both inside and outside the workplace. In India, 15 per cent reported bullying occurring in their workplace and 27 per cent outside.

Keshav Dhakad, Group Head and Assistant General Counsel for corporate, external and legal Affairs at Microsoft India, said workplace bullying is a particular challenge during the current COVID-19 pandemic with separate research on the future of work highlighting an increased blending of life and work.The latest study titled ‘Civility, Safety and Interaction Online 2020’ polled teenagers aged 13 to 17 and adults aged 18 to 74 about their online experiences and exposure to 21 different online risks across four categories: behavioural, sexual, reputational, and personal or intrusive.

While the target of online bullying or harassment, the research showed that most people in India either blocked the bully (70 per cent) or talked to a friend about what happened (58 per cent) while some reported the incident to a parent, teacher or trusted adult (43 per cent).

Only 28 per cent of respondents said they had reported the experience to a social media company or other provider.

Globally, for the respondents affected by workplace bullying, the most common consequences were feeling humiliated (58 per cent) followed by feeling demoralised (52 per cent) and a loss of self-confidence (51 per cent). The impacts also varied across the generations.

About 53 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 24 reported feeling isolated and depressed as a consequence of bullying whereas Gen X respondents were more likely to report being less productive at work (58 per cent).

Respondents exposed to online bullying or harassment in their workplaces were also more likely to report having ‘unbearable or severe’ levels of pain from those experiences. (ANI)