Online Violence Is Real

Published .

To mark the Worldwide Day Against Bullying, on the 20th October,  the Portuguese Association of Victim Suport (APAV) presents a new awareness campaign regarding online violence.  The campaign's motto is "Online violence is real '' and it was creatively developed by Filipe Meunier, in partnership with APAV.

This brand new campaign, which is released during the European Month of Cybersecurity, was set with the goal to warn about the growth of the cyber criminality numbers, particularly the cyberbullying, hate speech and the non consensual share of images situations;  types of crimes that have expanded during the pandemic, considering the amount of time that children and the younger generations spent online. Although there isn't any absolute data regarding these phenomenons,  especially when it comes to cyberbullying, we can safely say that these situations have either kept steady or tend to rise. 

In 2020, APAV accounted for 27 bullying and cyberbullying reports, however, this number doesn't match with the national reality  — the case numbers should be much higher due to the knowledge that many situations are non-reported. If on one hand the cyber bullying phenomenon wasn't that much reported, on the other hand the hate speech and the non consensual share of images cases have  significantly grown: the Safe Internet Line (LIS) received 216 reports about online hate speech in 2020 ( in 2019 they had only received 24); and 260 reports about the non-consensual share of private images (threats on sharing photos,privacy intrusion, extorsion, etc.) — in 2019, there had only been 22.

Considering the growing online violence, it is fundamental to promote all the means through which one can get help and/or support for the crime and violence situations.  The Safe Internet Line (LIS) is available (from 8am to 10pm) through the free number 800 21 90 90 , or the email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and the contact forms:
• Report Illegal Content 
• Ask For Clarification