The University Follow-Up Unit at the Center for Urban and Regional Planning for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Baghdad, in cooperation with the National Security Service and the University Communication Unit of the University Follow-Up Department, organized a workshop entitled “The Dangers of Cyberbullying.” The workshop was attended by faculty members, staff, and students of the center.
The workshop aimed to define cyberbullying as an online threat involving the publication of photos or videos of a victim and forcing them to pay a ransom or other sums through intimidation and fear after psychologically controlling them.
The workshop organizers attributed the causes of cyberbullying to human curiosity for experimentation and entertainment, purchasing Gmail or Apple ID accounts from public places, sharing devices or internet networks, using weak passwords and neglecting digital privacy, as well as emotional emptiness and the search for attention. The workshop recommended the importance of protecting oneself and reporting any case of blackmail, after blocking the blackmailer and changing the password, while emphasizing the need to preserve all evidence to prove the occurrence of the blackmail crime and not to give in to the blackmailer no matter how much pressure is applied, with the possibility of simultaneously accessing the Aman.gov.iq platform to electronically report blackmail in an official and confidential manner, as well as the possibility of contacting the National Security hotline on the free number 131.
