The Maldives Police Service has shut down several pages that were being used to cyberbully or harass school students through various social media platforms. The police stated that they have taken special measures to bring such “confession” pages under their control and stop them. Social media platforms are popular among school students, with Instagram being one such platform. As a result, the police have noted that these platforms are being used to bully or harass children.
The police said that cyberbullying incidents using social media platforms are increasing among school students. Therefore, the Cyber Crime Center of the Maldives Police Service has begun taking special measures to stop this. They mentioned that in the past week, they have taken control of Instagram confession pages related to 22 schools in Malé and have started investigating the matter. In addition to these 22 pages, the police said that they are also investigating 20 more confession pages in collaboration with the Family and Child Protection department and the Cyber Crime Center.
The police stated that this cyberbullying issue is a growing problem. They noted that many school students have fallen victim to this, and in most cases, it is also school students who create and run these pages. The police said that those who create and run such pages hide their identities and use them to spread false information about other students and teachers, mock them, harass them, and post content that can cause psychological harm.
The police have shared warning posts on some of the pages they have taken control of. They have warned that they will investigate and take action under Maldivian laws against children involved in such activities. In the posts shared by the police on these pages, they have also requested that information about children who have fallen victim to such pages be shared with the Cyber Crime Center to assist with the ongoing investigation.
