Bullies in cyberspace
Saturday 28th February 2009, 10:00AM GMT.
From Senator Jim Perchard.
WE live in an internet age. Communicating to people around the world is a matter of a few clicks of the mouse.
However, if you look at this internet age from a different point of view, you will realise that it has in fact bred some illegal and unethical practices.
While some use the internet for gaining information, others use it for destruction of sensitive data, or for demeaning and abusing individuals or organisations. While some use the web as a communication platform, others use it for and derive pleasure from intruding in the internet privacy of individuals and seek enjoyment from cyber-bullying.
Cyber-bullying and internet abuse is a growing and serious concern. The remoteness, even anonymity, provided by the internet encourages many users to behave with a boldness they would not otherwise display in any face-to-face encounters.
It is widely claimed that adult bullies are unable to cope with their own lives and problems and that they are easily intimidated and have strong feelings of jealousy and inadequacy.
They are thought to be desperate to receive attention, which they probably don’t receive at home or in relationships. I have noticed that they continually seek to discredit those in authority, particularly those who are influential, knowledgeable, capable and successful.
Even though many of them will understand when they have behaved wrongly, they still wish to appear as though they are morally superior. Strangely, they insist that others have attacked them and that they are the victims. It seems to me that they seek to lead and manipulate an unsuspecting group of their virtual friends to bandwagon, or gang up on, a target and try to gain attention for themselves by any means possible, usually through humiliating their target.
It is true that occasionally they can appear plausible, by introducing a cocktail of fact and fiction, but I am convinced that cyber-bullies are always vindictive and manipulative liars. They often, in an attempt to justify their behaviour, threaten their target with referral to a higher authority, eg the law, the UK Ministry of Justice, even the European courts, imagining that such authorities would be interested in the detail behind their vindictive tirade of abuse and bullying.
It seems that they are unable to internalise their own behaviours and become angry and unreasonable if someone attempts to point out how they were wrong or how their behaviour was unacceptable.
Cyber-bullies, like all bullies, will eventually prey on those closest to them in order to resist entering into permanent and lasting friendships. This is because they are mentally disturbed people who are incapable of having meaningful relationships. It is symptomatic that they find solace and power alone in their virtual world in front of their computer screens.
We as a society are learning about cyber-bullying at great personal and emotional cost to the many victims and their families. I hope that it will not be long before we establish acceptable boundaries in respect of the rights to freedom of expression, balanced against the rights to security and privacy of the individual.
I have given very careful consideration to the content of this letter, as I know it will provoke a hostile reaction in my direction, from cyber-bullies and internet abusers, those who believe it is their right to publish on the internet defamatory and hostile untruths about others. I for one am prepared to stand up to these bullies. I shall not be intimidated by them.
Le Perchoir,
Rue de la Vignette,
St Martin.
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dont forget jim theres far more bullying in ‘real life’ in this island, maybee we should address that first…
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I have been on the receiving end of bullying and humiliation in the workplace and I was eventually forced to hand in my resignation, due to it affecting my health with all the constant worry and stress.
I haven’t been able to work since then and I probably won’t be able to get another job in any case, as they won’t provide a reference for me.
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I agree with the above!!! sort out the smiling assasins first, you know the sort….. opinions are everyones basic human right it’s how they affect the majority not the minority… What was this letter with reference to exactly?
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If people have a view on a States member then why can’t they say it on the net?
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Politians and the like should find Cyperspace bullies easy to deal with, simply ignore them rather than read feel offended!
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JULIE bullying in the workplace affects your health, your mind, your general well being, I know I have been there and many people are subjected to the evils of bullying.
Cyber bullying however is another thing, if cyber bullying is going on. Having read this letter a few times I cannot see what the Senator is getting at, perhaps it should of been shredded before being printed in the media. I consider the content of the letter relates more to personal failures to cope with a demanding job. MPs in the UK are subjected to bullying by the media, the internet on a daily basis. They do not react like this. They have the professionalism to realise that Freedom of Speech is a right – afterall that’s what the blogs and forums are used for. One presumes by the content of the letter that the Senator would like to see blogs and forums closed down however there are several Senators, Deputies etc. who use these Forums, Blogs etc., as a way of communicating their views with those who choose to question them. If Senator Perchard is finger pointing perhaps he should have the decency to whom or who he is referring to. I often place my thoughts on blogs, what on earth has that got to do with him and believe me I am not a bully, I have the right to freedom of speech and the right of reply.
I realise this is not enjoyed by all!!!!!!!!!!
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Hannah- I agree with you- what exactly is he getting at- are we missing something??I contribute to this blog whenever the subject interests me and as most others do I am polite and consider other peoples feelings whilst trying to explain my point or opinion in a clear way.I do not agree with people who use such forums as an opportunity to be offensive or obnoxious and yes I agree that such people are cowards in hiding behind a certain anonymity but Jim Perchard is not being very clear about exactly what he means is he?
To the other “Julie”- I was subjected to a form of bullying in the workplace when I lived in Jersey too.Be assured the bully is the person with the problem- not you!!
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oh get real – you can turn off your computer, ignore a sender of abusive emails – even track the person down if you know the right people…
Don’t you have enough issues to deal with without creating them from nothing – for instance the amount of bullying that goes on in st helier and st brelades after dark by kids to the elderly?
I’ve had to call the police to my house 4 times this year because of underage drinkers slamming against my window – these youths don’t get arrested – they just get a slap on the wrist and told to go home!!! The parent’s should be fined and the kids should do community service if they’re seen drunk in town…
if i get harrased on the internet – i turn off my machine make a cup of coffee and then ignore any incomming messages from that IP address (Simple really!)
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The freedom to express our beliefs has been with us for a long time.
Any attempt to censor internet blogs will bring us in line with countries like China, North Vietnam, Burma, Zimbabwe, Syria and Iran. Is this really the way we want to go?
If you become a politician you are sticking your head above the parapet and you become a legitimate target to be shot at (metaphorically of course), it goes with the territory.
If you can’t stand the heat Senator, get out of the kitchen.
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Oh dear. Looks like Mr Perchard has finally worked out how to fire up the internet on his States laptop and has read some less than flattering comments made about him on an internet blog site!
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Harsh things are being said about the Senator because;
a) He is Minister for Health and a lot of responsibilty comes with that title.
b) There have been some very worrying events at the hospital, an establishment for which he is responsible.
c) If he was a Cabinet Minister in the UK, the criticism would be far harsher, the national papers would be knocking lumps out of him and there would be a campaign for his resignation.
d) The criticism will get worse until he sorts out the affairs of his department.
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I am just wondering what exactly Senator Perchard has in mind? As far as I am aware, if you have enough clout you can get anything about yourself deleted from the internet already – so just where is he going with this?
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A government minister taking the time to write to the paper is something those of us interested in Jersey’s good governance should encourage especially if the intention is to stimulate debate.
Critical analysis, reasoned argument and informed opinion are essential if the debate is to remain objective yet sadly these appear to be largely missing from Senator Perchard’s letter.
Whilst there is no legal definition of bullying in the UK, the dictionary describes it as, for example, ‘overbearing behaviour by a person(s) with power over someone more vulnerable’. Bullying is old as humankind and is about how people handle (or mishandle) power. The senator offers an outrageously simplistic description of bullies as ‘mentally disturbed’, whether this is the case or not, perhaps as Minister for Health he could offer a view on how our society might address this problem rather than demonise people with an illness.
His own observation (that [bullies] seek to discredit those in authority…etc) couldn’t be further from the mark. Senator Perchard this isn’t bullying, it’s criticism; welcome or not, criticism is the lifeblood of a healthy democracy. In fact what he describes is the very opposite of bullying where people with little perceived power take the opportunity to express in the public domain their opinions of those in power.
The use by bullies of the World Wide Web may well be one that needs more debate by society. As a government minister, the senator has missed an opportunity to start this debate with an informed analysis of the situation and a suggested vision of how it could be addressed. Instead we got a ‘cocktail’ of hearsay and poorly informed opinion. To save embarrassment, might I respectfully suggest that the minister asks the qualified opinion of someone he knows and trusts within his department before committing to print in the future?
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What on earth is senator perchard going on about?
He refers to a group of ‘mentally disturbed’ people whom he feels he has to ‘Stand up to’?
An extraordinary choice of words coming from the minister for health.
Any minister of health worth his salt would want to help any group of ‘mentally disturbed’ people to receive treatment for their condition.
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Why did the JEP gives such prominence to this letter? Surely the Minister has other, more important issues to address.
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Senator Perchard states:
‘This is because they are mentally disturbed people who are incapable of having meaningful relationships.’
Such a choice of words is quite extraordinary coming as they do from our minister for health.
I am not impressed with our minister for health’s lack of sensitivity. I think the least he could do would be to apologize for the offence he has caused.
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Who exactly is Senator Perchard having a dig at?
Does he not accept that people have the right to criticise our elected representatives?
If libelous comments are made then we have laws to deal with this.
The right of free speech must be defended at all costs.
He should not have entered politics if he is not able to take some stick. He seems happy enough to give it out … so what is his problem?
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Good on you, Senator, is all I can say. It’s not right that anyone on the Internet should be able to write whatever they like about you, even if it is the truth. Let them prove it first in a court of law is what I say.
At least in the old days, when you bought a newspaper, you knew it was biased and unlikely to contain anything controversial because they employed lawyers who would take out anything defamatory unless they were one hundred and ten percent sure it could stand up. Even then they didn’t always print it for fear of causing social unrest or maybe upsetting someone important.
Nowadays, you go on some of these blogs and they print facts as if they were the truth. It makes you wonder why the victims of such bullying don’t issue a writ against them, which is easy enough to do.
Like that bloke that recently said that Hitler didn’t exist, or something. Look what happened to him. He’s now not allowed to go to Argentina or Germany, which is a bit ironic when you think about it.
Maybe your government could pass a law to stop those cyberbullies coming to Jersey, or make them leave if they already live there.
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That’s life Jim,
but not as you know it!!
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“..Mentally disturbed people who are incapable of having meaningful relationships.”
Absolutely disgraceful.
If he were the Minister for Health in England he would be booted out of office for a remark like that. But this is Jersey..
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I am encouraged to hear one of our leading statesmen admit that there are limits to freedom of expression on our Island, a freedom that is clearly being abused by those bent on sowing dissent and undermining our glorious institutions. I consider these people to be little more than terrorists and I believe they should be treated appropriately.
I stand foursquare behind any measure you or our your colleagues bring forward to protect Islanders from hearing the siren calls of these wreckers. I would suggest all local ‘bloggers’ be required to register for permission from the local authorities who would then be able to monitor their authorities and, when necessary, restrict their activities.
Perhaps the States should also consider introducing measures similar to those in the Patriot Acts in the United States, which allow the authorities greater scope in monitoring those who may be up to no good.
Jersey is not North Korea nor Zimbabwe. But neither is it the UK, where such subversive and disruptive behaviour is indulged, and seemingly even encouraged.
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“..Mentally disturbed people who are incapable of having meaningful relationships.”
Well, well, I contribute to blogs and I have a very meaningful relationship and the only thing that makes me mentally disturbed is the fact that a politician can write such a letter to our one and only newspaper and get it printed.
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“I would suggest all local ‘bloggers’ be required to register for permission from the local authorities who would then be able to monitor their authorities and, when necessary, restrict their activities. ”
I am stunned to read such a thing from a person calling themselves a Proud Jerseyman.
A real proud Jerseyman would have a deep desire to protect freedoms and liberties in an island which had them denied by the Nazi’s for so long, and for whom so many perished in order that he could express such an opinion.
Draconian and regressive measures such as you suggest do not belong in a western democracy
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Stand up to it then but dont try and make us law abiding citizens become part of the nanny state which you obviously desire.
Is it not correct that us paupers should be allowed an opinion or is it just that we are, so long as we keep it to ourselves.
I am shocked that you or any politician could come out with this letter, it is laughable. When you took your position you should have been aware that you are under public scrutiny, that includes blogs or in the past, where you are obviously living, word of mouth. Know the phrase sticks and stones etc well unfortunately these days names will hurt you when you have not lived up to your promises.
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Julie, under the Health and Safety at work (Jersey) Law, your employer owes you a duty to provide you with a safe working environment, this includes taking reasonable steps to protect you from victimisation and bullying. I suggest you consult your union if you have one or obtain legal advice.
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It is amazing how people will say things anonymously to a stranger that would never, ever say it to their face. It happens moreso online than anywhere. Rather than discussing a subject (which is what forums are for) some people simply cannot help but make personal attacks on people or accuse people of saying things they simply haven’t said. It is usually the most severe for those in the public eye.
I believe in free speech but free speech should not be void of human decency. If someone wants to talk about how a politician does their job, or whether or not they agree with your opinion that’s great. People who do their job in the public eye must be aware that this is part and parcel of that job. However, any comments about appearance, attitude etc. get typed up as if fact, when clearly they are purely the subjective opinions of the author. Usually such opinions hint more towards the author’s prejudices and biases than that of the person they are attacking.
Resorting to personal attack is usually just a sign that the person has nothing intelligent to say so maybe we should just laugh at such people, but that’s not so easy though for those who are being attacked!
I don’t know why Senator Perchard felt the need to write this letter but anyone who has publicly criticised anything other than his ability to do his job should realise that this just makes their serious points less likely to be listened to. Personal attacks don’t help the attacker or the attacked!
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Anyone that thinks that you can ‘limit’ who can do what on the internet really needs to look at China! The entire government could not stop internet traffic, it is fast, it is difficult to trace and as anyone who has worked in an IT environment knows as soon as you change one thing it can throw out all sorts of perameters… Maybe stopping blogging is possible but do you not realise what you are doing right now! This is a blog, albeit owned by a responsible company rather than a 12 year old, this is just the grown up equivelent but exactly the same technology… by giving your views here you are blogging! The only way to protect yourself from cyber bullying is by following 3 simple rules… 1. Do not release your personal information to anyone that you do not trust 100% 2. If you regularily use networking websites be prepared for the occasional silly comment by someone but either block that person immediately or quietly (yes not publicly) speak with them about it, if you just argue back then you are fuelling the fire and finally 3. Report it, no self respecting website be it facebook or bebo or even here on thisisjersey will allow bullying to happen to its subscribers so let them know who is doing these things and let them take care of it (same goes for employers!).
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Woo scary stuff from our Senator Perchard; however it would appear as he might include our comment in his diatribe. He may well be right as judging by my marital history I do have real problems with maintaining relationships (one, two, three, aaaahh). But does being a mentally deranged (me) serial divorcee invalidate my comment?
Senator with all due respect if you have a problem with what people are saying about you, or others, on the internet come out and be frank about it and name names, that way we can all judge the validity of your claims. You may well be right and we can all support you instead of floundering in a sea of your innuendo.
And if you are reading this; use your position to address the purported bullying within the States of Jersey Police please.
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why don’t they just pass another tax on to people who blog!
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‘Bambi Woods’
I am sure that Senator Perchard would describe himself as a ‘proud Jerseyman’.
However, I am at a loss to understand why on earth no legal action has yet been taken against those who continue to publish these terrible allegations against some of the most prominent figures in our community.
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‘Mentally disturbed’ This is unacceptable language from a Minister for Health.
I require you to apologise immediately Mr Perchard and then do the honourable thing.
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Mr Perchard I do not believe what you are saying…on one hand you are having a go on the cyber bullies then in the next breath you are bullying the family health care into supporting your puppet..it must mean the old saying is true.. to be one is to know one
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Is the internet not comparable to the tabloid newspapers i.e. they can pretty much say what they wish as long as it isnt defamatory e.t.c.
Understandbly there will always be idiots who believe everything they read. but isnt the internet the last bastion of free speech. If you dont like it dont read it – simple rule, i really cant see what all the fuss is about!
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Jim, maybe you should try listening to the bloggers instead of the “influential, knowledgeable, capable and successful.”
Then you could start treating the cause of their (very real) frustrations rather than the symptoms.
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Proud Jerseyman (30) my comment (23)was not directed at Perchard but was a response to your comment (21). It was therefore a ctitisism of your extremely draconian suggestion.
There are a number of reasons why action isn’t taken.
It could be that the person has no assets to sue him for, it could be that the blogger might raise various legal defences to any action which would make the ‘target’ look vastly worse than he first appeared in the blog (eg justification, truth etc). It may be a combination of both.
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I think Senator Perchard is an idiot for writing this letter.
Please note, that this is my opinion. Something that no matter how much tax is laid on me or how this island is run can ever be taken away from me. That is what the internet offers. A chance for people to express an opinion.
Oh, and the answer is yes. I will happily repeat this to the Health Minister’s face – on camera if he prefers, so don’t for one second think that I do this hiding behind anonymity.
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‘Bambi Woods’/'Bean up all night’
Far be it from me to put words into the mouth of such a fine Jerseyman as Senator Perchard, but I believe I was echoing the sentiments contained in his letter.
Unrestricted freedom of speech is a danger to social order, and it is encouraging indeed to note that one of our most eminent statesmen is willing to acknowledge its limits.
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cyber bullies are a minority so what’s all the fuss about?! on most websites and chatrooms you do have to register on these days anyway so people can be traced.
what i can’t stand is the way politicians like to call themselves victims when in fact it is the public who are victims of their incompetence in government….surely people are allowed to vent there anger this way otherwise it will happen on the streets!
maybe people who own pcs or laptops should be taxed for the privilege hey Mr Perchard!
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A rambling letter if ever I saw one. He should have the courage of his convictions and name the person who he feels is having a go at him. Why go around the houses like this? Why doesn’t he confront the said person and ask for the record to be set straight, especially if he has used his own name, or he can sue in court? He also has the much easier option to complain to Google if it is a blog he is concerned about.
I am led to believe that if someone continues a blog that is publishing known lies the people affected can complain to Google who will take action, as they do not allow people to abuse their services. I therefore ask the question has Mr.Perchard complained to Google about it? If he hasn’t he should and they will act, shutting it down if he shows the articles to be lies. He should therefore put in a complaint to Google. I suggest he does, then he will be vindicated by getting the blog shut down won’t he? This applies to anyone else as well.
Mr.Perchard could then publish a letter to the JEP saying he has done this and when this blog is shut down we will all see that he has been vindicated. How hard can this be? If I were him, this is what I would do, especially as he seems so upset by it.
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sorry Adrian… complain to Google?
did I miss something? I don’t remember the time when Google bought “the internet”! They are only a search engine and don’t police websites. They can only control what shows on their services, not what another site shows.
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Sorry Michael, let me explain, what I meant is that everyone that I know uses blogger .com for their blogs and it is run by Google. And yes they do police this. They aren’t just a search engine anymore, they have diversified into quite a few other areas. Google will shut blogs down if you can show that these blogs are malicous or defamatory etc. However people can say anything they like on blogs as long as it is the truth and they can substanciate this so there is nothing you can do about it if this is the case.
All Mr.Perchard has to do is see if he is being mentioned by a blogger using blogger .com (also known as blogspot .com) and then he can complain to Google about it. I thought everyone knew this.
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