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postgraduate thesis: Cyberbullying in Hong Kong : a rising threat in need of legislation?

TitleCyberbullying in Hong Kong : a rising threat in need of legislation?
Authors
Issue Date2024
PublisherThe University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong)
Citation
Wong, T. C. C. [王芷晴], Chung, H. S. R. [鍾瀚成], Chu, K. C. J. [朱家駿]. (2024). Cyberbullying in Hong Kong : a rising threat in need of legislation?. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.
AbstractAs the world continues to move more online, cyberbullying is a fact that more and more of us have to deal with. Nonetheless, despite the increase in cyberbullying incidents, strict and prohibitory legal provisions specifically to tackle the offense of cyberbullying do not exist within the current legal framework prevailing in Hong Kong. Given this, this research investigated the three-year prevalence of cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and witnessing among university students in Hong Kong and their legislative preferences on enacting laws against cyberbullying in Hong Kong. Two research questions were addressed: 1) How prevalent is cyberbullying victimization, perpetration and/or witnessing among Hong Kong university students? and 2) What is the relationship between Hong Kong University students who have experienced cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and/or witnessing and their support for criminalizing cyberbullying? This research collected a total of 150 questionnaires to answer the research questions. The survey results indicated that cyberbullying is indeed widespread, with 26.5% of respondents reporting victimization and 26% reporting perpetration. Additionally, 54.90% of bystanders reported experiencing cyberbullying. Furthermore, the majority of respondents expressed support for criminalizing cyberbullying, regardless of their personal experiences. Specifically, 79.5% of victims, 80.6% of non-victims, 64.9% of perpetrators, 85.5% of non-perpetrators, 85.2% of bystanders, and 80.6% of non-bystanders expressed support for criminalization. Notably, the present study also identified a victim-perpetrator overlap, with 41% of victims also identifying themselves as perpetrators of cyberbullying. The nuanced findings indicate that victims oppose criminalizing certain actions like spreading rumors and mocking, while perpetrators advocate for criminalizing specific methods such as encouraging self-harm or suicide instead of threats. These results highlight the varying perceptions of different cyberbullying behaviors and raise concerns about the effectiveness of criminalizing certain acts, even among victims, thus complicating legislative efforts against cyberbullying.
DegreeMaster of Social Sciences
SubjectCyberbullying - China - Hong Kong
Dept/ProgramCriminology
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/352860

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorWong, Tsz Ching Crystal-
dc.contributor.author王芷晴-
dc.contributor.authorChung, Hon Shing Raven-
dc.contributor.author鍾瀚成-
dc.contributor.authorChu, Ka Chun Jack-
dc.contributor.author朱家駿-
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-08T06:46:43Z-
dc.date.available2025-01-08T06:46:43Z-
dc.date.issued2024-
dc.identifier.citationWong, T. C. C. [王芷晴], Chung, H. S. R. [鍾瀚成], Chu, K. C. J. [朱家駿]. (2024). Cyberbullying in Hong Kong : a rising threat in need of legislation?. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/352860-
dc.description.abstractAs the world continues to move more online, cyberbullying is a fact that more and more of us have to deal with. Nonetheless, despite the increase in cyberbullying incidents, strict and prohibitory legal provisions specifically to tackle the offense of cyberbullying do not exist within the current legal framework prevailing in Hong Kong. Given this, this research investigated the three-year prevalence of cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and witnessing among university students in Hong Kong and their legislative preferences on enacting laws against cyberbullying in Hong Kong. Two research questions were addressed: 1) How prevalent is cyberbullying victimization, perpetration and/or witnessing among Hong Kong university students? and 2) What is the relationship between Hong Kong University students who have experienced cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and/or witnessing and their support for criminalizing cyberbullying? This research collected a total of 150 questionnaires to answer the research questions. The survey results indicated that cyberbullying is indeed widespread, with 26.5% of respondents reporting victimization and 26% reporting perpetration. Additionally, 54.90% of bystanders reported experiencing cyberbullying. Furthermore, the majority of respondents expressed support for criminalizing cyberbullying, regardless of their personal experiences. Specifically, 79.5% of victims, 80.6% of non-victims, 64.9% of perpetrators, 85.5% of non-perpetrators, 85.2% of bystanders, and 80.6% of non-bystanders expressed support for criminalization. Notably, the present study also identified a victim-perpetrator overlap, with 41% of victims also identifying themselves as perpetrators of cyberbullying. The nuanced findings indicate that victims oppose criminalizing certain actions like spreading rumors and mocking, while perpetrators advocate for criminalizing specific methods such as encouraging self-harm or suicide instead of threats. These results highlight the varying perceptions of different cyberbullying behaviors and raise concerns about the effectiveness of criminalizing certain acts, even among victims, thus complicating legislative efforts against cyberbullying. -
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherThe University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong)-
dc.relation.ispartofHKU Theses Online (HKUTO)-
dc.rightsThe author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works.-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subject.lcshCyberbullying - China - Hong Kong-
dc.titleCyberbullying in Hong Kong : a rising threat in need of legislation?-
dc.typePG_Thesis-
dc.description.thesisnameMaster of Social Sciences-
dc.description.thesislevelMaster-
dc.description.thesisdisciplineCriminology-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.date.hkucongregation2024-
dc.identifier.mmsid991044890309203414-

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