Teen girls fear being perceived as ‘weak’ for using AI to push back against cyberbullies
Research from the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre and Adapt has has raised concerns about young people’s perception of seeking help with cyber bullying, in particular by older teenaged girls
Fifty-nine teenagers aged 12-17 from Ireland participated in interviews and focus groups. Social media platforms are increasingly relying on AI to proactively detect and remove cyber bullying, nonetheless it is not always clear how companies use AI to accomplish this.
This research consulted teenager’s views on proposed and existing AI interventions across popular social media applications such as Instagram and TikTok.
“This is the first study, where teenager’s views on the evolution of AI interventions to address cyberbullying were listened to and examined,” said Tijana Milosevic, research fellow, DCU Anti-Bullying Centre. “While AI interventions appear to be broadly welcomed, we also must ensure that teenager’s privacy and rights are protected, and not infringed upon.”
Despite the broad welcome for AI interventions, teenagers reported being particularly concerned about the possibility of having their private messages screened, as well as the use of facial recognition, with some expressing unease with its use, and describing it as ‘creepy’.
Furthermore, some teenagers expressed a desire to handle cyberbullying complaints on their own, for example, by choosing to unfollow, mute, restrict or block someone. Whilst these tools can be helpful in some instances, researchers conducting the study expressed concern about young people’s perception of asking for help when they are the target of cyberbullying. Older girls of 15-17 years of age, in particular, expressed a preference for handling cyberbullying themselves as they did not think someone else should be responsible for solving their problems. Some pointed out they would be reluctant to admit they have a support contact, as this implied weakness or lack of self-reliance, adding they thought it was more appropriate for smaller children. Interestingly, the male focus groups were more welcoming of the support contact feature, as an AI intervention.
Given the concerns about teenagers seeking to handle complaints on their own, Milosevic said: “As teenagers increasingly use social media to communicate with their peers, we as researchers are concerned about some of the feedback from young people, in particular older teenage girls, regarding their fears of being perceived as ‘sensitive’ or ‘making a big deal out of being the target of cyberbullying’. This finding has implications for how we design online safety technologies and interventions – when much of online safety education with respect to cyberbullying advises young people to report incidents and talk to someone, it is important to know that young people might be reluctant to do so.”
The results underscore the importance of engaging teenager’s views on the development of new technologies, such as the AI applications for cyberbullying detection. Children’s rights, which are outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), apply in a digital environment. According to the UNCRC children also have the right to privacy and freedom of expression, among other rights.
It is also relevant considering the passage of legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas on the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022 (OSMR), which is to provide for the regulation of harmful online content and the protection of children online, amongst other issues.
TechCentral Reporters
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers