EVALUATING THE CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF THE BYSTANDER OF CYBER BULLYING IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Cyber bullying is simply bullying on the internet or through communication devices such as blogs, social networking sites and digital instant messaging. Cyber bullying has become a prominent issue concerning number of youths who have been traumatised, sometimes to the point of committing suicide, as a result of being a victim of cyber bullying. There is now a plethora of literature focusing on the relationship between bullies and victims in cyberspace. Government in Nigeria and throughout the world have also introduced legislations, initiatives, policies etc to tackle the problem of cyber bulling. However, the existing literatures, legislation and initiatives often fail to consider or evaluate the criminal liability or even the role of bystanders in encouraging and magnifying the bullying simply by their passive presence or as agents who can potentially curtail cyber bullying incidents before they go too far. Thus, emphasis needs to be shifted from the actual bully to the spectators, who views, likes, comments or even shares the derogatory posts and as such gathers more audience and escalates the severity of the harm done. In other climes, the law makers and the courts in the bid to preserve communal life have found criminally liable under ‘Bad Samaritan laws’, any person who seeing another in danger and without risk to his own life refuses to rescue or render reasonable help or at least report to proper authority, but this is not the position of the law in Nigeria. This paper therefore sheds light on the significant role that bystanders play in cyber bullying and whether a legal obligation should be placed or imposed on bystanders to be good Samaritans in cyberspace.