Cyberbullying on Weibo and the Ineffectiveness of Its Anti-cyberbullying Policies in Prevention and Regulation of Cyberbullying—Investigation into Liu Xuezhou’s Case
Haoxuan Sun, Xingyu Xu, Ruilin Guo, Nuo Li, Tinglu Feng · Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media · 2023
Social media platforms’ policies aim to restrict cyberbullying. However, there is little study on whether these policies are effective. The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of the Weibo policy between 2012-2022 against cyberbullying and find a way to strengthen its effectiveness. We studied the Case of Liu Xuezhou, which is a typical example of cyberbullying. By studying the case and analyzing how relevant policies of Weibo worked or failed in preventing the case, this research found that although Weibo does have a policy to prevent cyberbullying, they are delayed and ineffective. Thus, when netizens encounter cyberbullying, the policies against cyber violence have little power in preventing its happening or help reducing the harm suffered by victims. Weibo, as one of the biggest social media platforms in China, should strengthen the prevention and regulation of cyberbullying by increasing the effectiveness of these policies' terminology and enforcement. Meanwhile, netizens should improve their ability to distinguish between right and wrong and participate in the prevention of cyberbullying themselves.