A recent poll has revealed that 56 percent of teenagers and young adults aged between 14 and 24 are abused and bullied on the Internet, a six percent increase compared to a similar poll conducted in 2009. The poll was conducted jointly by a television channel and a newspaper. The results were based on interviews with 1,355 teenagers and young adults from Aug. 18 to Aug. 31, with an error margin of 3.8 percent. According to the poll, the most common forms of abuse are publishing false information, revealing private messages and insulting others. One in three respondents said they had participated in sending and receiving photos, videos or texts that were abusive. A total of 71 percent of respondents agreed that “this is the problem among Internet users of their age”. A total of 10 percent, less than in 2009, said they exchanged sex-related texts only with people they know on the Internet. Ahmed Al-Qadi, a social advisor at Irshad's Social Center in Riyadh, said digital bullying or digital “terror” is on the rise because of the increase in social networking sites. Al-Qadi advised parents that they should have the computers of their young children in the living room rather than their bedrooms. The computers can be moved into their bedrooms when they become teenagers and are more responsible. He said parents must also educate their children about the dangers of the Internet, including meeting strangers online, publishing private information, and that bullying and abusing others is against the law. __
