Importance of raising awareness about cyberbullying stressed

Manama, Feb. 7 (BNA): Leading social media users have stressed the significance of raising awareness about cyber bullying, which was highlighted by the "Have only good things to say" campaign that was launched in the presence Information Minister Ali bin Mohammed Al Romaihi. Omar Farooq, a social media activist, said that despite the praise for his online videos, there is a small number of people who attempt to criticize in an abusive and uncivilized manner, noting that ignoring such comments is the best solution. Farooq called on youth people to ignore negative comments and cyber bullying so that the problem does not deepen and becomes offensive to all parties. “I have never considered filing a report against any of the bullies for their comments so that the issue is not given a greater dimension,” he said. Mona Al-Mutawa, a journalist and an activist on Twitter said she appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Information Affairs in presenting a burning issue - cyber bullying. “The campaign should be expanded through cooperation among the ministries of information and the competent authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),” she said. “This will help protect the Gulf community from online abuses that negatively impact public opinion and mislead people with fabrications and lies that affront individuals and societies.” Salah Abdulmajeed, a short film maker, said that he was pleased to be part of the ministry’s campaign. “Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that some people tend to magnify,” he said. “Our advice is not to respond to abusers and to focus instead on creative work to serve the community. The aim of the bullies is to disrupt creativity and to unsettle people keen on it.”