Cyberbullying and Free Speech Considerations Under the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act

While cyberbullying shares many characteristics with traditional (offline) bullying (e.g., intention, aggressiveness, power imbalance, repetition), it can be particularly pernicious because of the medium in which it occurs. 3 As examples, a discrete incident of aggression that may have previously happened at a single time or place is not so constrained on the internet. 4 The abusive content itself can take the form of a comment, image, or recording. 5 And such aggressive content can be "repeatedly viewed, shared, saved, commented on, or 'Liked' by others, and result in a cycle of repetitionand associated ongoing damage or trauma for a victim who re-lives the experience." 6Additionally, the lack of non-verbal cues make intention more difficult to discern, and the power imbalance that is often associated with offline bullying may be diminished as cyberbullies may remain anonymous. 7And, while adults supervising children can often observe acts of traditional bullying and intervene to stop it, the same teachers and parents often lack the technological skills or visibility into the electronic world that allows cyberbullying to persist. 8 As children have moved online, it is unsurprising that the bullying followed.A 2023 national study of approximately 5,000 middle and high schoolers found that 26.5% reported they had been cyberbullied in the last 30 days, an increase from previously reported 23.2% in 2021 and 17% in 2019. 9And the recent report from the New Jersey Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents identified cyberbullying as one of the contributors to the detrimental effects on social-emotional health and well-being of youth. 10Equally unsurprising, as early as the 3 Alexandra Alipan, et al.