Cyberbullying Policy Statement

Influenced Models has a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of bullying and harassment and this includes bullying using technology such as mobile phones and computers.

Through this policy, the organisation aims to:

• raise awareness among our clients about cyberbullying
• provide a safe environment in which preventive measures are in place to prevent cyberbullying
• ensure systems are in place to deal with cyberbullying should it occur.

Definition of Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying includes:

• offensive emails — sending offensive emails (even if this is meant as a joke) —or continuing to send similar messages having already been asked to stop
• email threats
• posting blogs and leaving comments on social networking sites — it may be that a person is unaware that the bully is posting offensive messages about them on sites in the public domain
• propagating defamatory gossip on social networking sites and blogs
• threats or offensive comments sent to a person’s mobile phone through SMS text messages
• sexual harassment by email — sending persistent emails to a person when previous email approaches have been rejected
• sharing a person’s private data online — posting somebody’s personal details, ie those which they would not normally want to share with strangers, such as home addresses and phone numbers — in such a way that they become available to the general public
• picture/video-clip bullying through mobile phone cameras
• chat room bullying
• bullying through websites.

Although similar in many respects to other forms of bullying, cyberbullying also has some very specific features:

• it invades both home and personal space
• the size of the audience can be vast
• electronically-circulated messages can be difficult to control
• the bully may be able to remain relatively anonymous
• it can have a large number of “bystanders” or “accessories”
• much (if not all) of the bullying may take place outside of working hours.

Procedure

Awareness-raising

All new clients will be made aware of this policy:

• what constitutes cyberbullying (the list will not be exhaustive)
• that cyberbullying is unacceptable behaviour which will lead to disciplinary action
• how to report any incidents of cyberbullying to which they have been subjected or of which they become aware.

Dealing with Cyberbullying Incidents

There is often some evidence after cyberbullying has taken place. Clients should be encouraged to pass this on to an appropriate employee or contractor working on behalf of Influenced Models. In some cases, it will be necessary to contact mobile phone companies, internet service providers or social networking sites.

The following advice should be given to those experiencing cyberbullying.

• Do not retaliate or reply.
• Block or remove offenders from buddy lists.
• Review the information you are giving out.
• Make sure you tell an appropriate employee or contractor working on behalf of Influenced Models and raise a formal complaint so that this can be properly investigated.
• Try to keep calm and do not let the bully see a reaction.

If the person responsible for the bullying is identified, appropriate sanctions will be applied to the perpetrator. The following sanctions might be implemented, depending upon the nature and severity of the bullying:

• Ceasing to act for the person responsible for the cyberbullying
• restricting access to our groups or platforms
• contacting the police, where the cyberbullying is sufficiently severe
• informing external agencies and other member sites.