4 out of 10 Adolescents Have Experienced Cyberbullying

KCC Announces Cyberbullying Survey Results
Youth Cyberbullying Experience Rate Down 0.8%p
Among Them, Slight Increase in Elementary Students and Girls

Last year, it was found that 4 out of 10 adolescents in South Korea experienced cyberbullying.

According to the '2023 Cyberbullying Survey' conducted by the Korea Communications Commission in collaboration with the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency on the 26th, 40.8% of adolescents and 8% of adults in South Korea experienced cyberbullying. This represents a decrease of 0.8 percentage points and 1.6 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year.

The Korea Communications Commission explained that the dependence on online activities has decreased since the government declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in May last year.

The Korea Communications Commission announced the results of the 2023 Cyberbullying Survey on the 26th.
[Photo by Korea Communications Commission]

Unlike the overall decrease in cyberbullying experience rates compared to the previous year, the experience of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents slightly increased among elementary school students (39.3%→39.4%) and female students (32.5%→33.3%). While most adult age groups showed a decrease in cyberbullying victimization, the 40s (6.4%→7.1%) and 50s (4%→5.2%) age groups showed an increase compared to the previous year.

By type of cyberbullying, both adolescents and adults reported the highest rates of perpetration and victimization involving verbal abuse. Among adolescents, 18.1% reported perpetration and 33.1% reported victimization. Among adults, the rates were 1.7% and 4%, respectively.

Experience rates of cyberbullying types among adolescents and adults.
[Photo by Korea Communications Commission]

Adults who experienced digital hate speech accounted for 11.7%, a decrease of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year, whereas adolescents recorded an increase of 1.7 percentage points to 14.2%. Digital hate speech refers to expressing prejudice and discrimination against specific individuals or groups in digital spaces based on differences such as gender, disability, or religion.

The Korea Communications Commission plans to expand the target audience and topics of education for cyberbullying prevention based on the results of this survey. The educational topics will be broadened from cyberbullying (verbal abuse, defamation, etc.) to include digital hate speech, deepfakes (fake news), and metaverse ethics education. Digital ethics education for adults will also be increased.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.