What to do if you are experiencing online abuse or harassment

Most websites and apps have rules against bullying and harassment, and can help if it's happening to you or someone you know. If you've seen or experienced bullying on social media, it's important to:

Report what's happened on the site or app: See the advice below for options on different platforms
Block the people bullying you: It is natural to want to defend yourself but don’t feed the trolls. Sometimes refusing to respond will result in the sender losing interest and your wellbeing is more important than what anyone thinks of you
Take screenshots of nasty messages: you don't have to read it, but you can use a folder of evidence to report the bullying behavior to a platform, the police and/or to the University. The evidence could be used by the police to trace the bully even if using fake information.
Talk to someone you trust: like a good friend, family member, or support service

If you would like further advice, check our escalation and next steps webpages.

Advice for different platforms

Lots of apps and sites will set your profile to public automatically, which means that anyone can see what you've posted. Changing your privacy settings can help to keep you safe, here's how to edit your settings on:

Snapchat

Snaps automatically disappear after they're sent but they can still be screenshotted so it's important to be careful. Some people sue special apps or just a simple handheld camera to take permanent pictures of a snap without the sender knowing.

Follow the instructions below or find more information at the Snapchat website.

1. To change your privacy settings on Snapchat, go to your profile and tap the gear icon. Scroll down to "Who can...":

Contact me: select friends only
View my story: select friends only
See my location: choose ghost mode or your location will always be available on snap maps
Show me in quick add: Turn this off.

It can also help to remember:

to block people you don't know who add you, including friends of friends
if you're in a group chat, anyone in the group can talk to you and see your messages.

2. Make a report

If you receive an abusive or worrying message. It can help to take a screenshot so you’ve got a record. The person who messaged you will see if you’ve taken a screenshot, so it’s important to think about how they might react if they knew.

If someone’s bullying or harassing you, or sending naked pictures you can report that person to Snapchat. To make a report:

In the app, go to the person’s Snapchat account
Press the 3 dots or the cog wheel
Press ‘Report’

To report a Snapchat or Snapchat Live Story that contains nudity or bullying content:

press and hold the snap or story
press the flag in the bottom left hand corner
select the reason you're making a report

if you're reporting bullying you might be asked to give more information, it's important to explain as much as possible. After you've made the report you'll be asked whether you would like to block the person, doing this can help to stop them upsetting you.

3. Block someone

Blocking someone on Snapchat will stop them from seeing your story or sending you snaps and chats. It can help if someone’s sending you abusive messages. To block someone:

in Snapchat, open the chat for the person you want to block
press the 3 lines in the top left hand corner
press Block.

Facebook and Facebook Messenger

There are lots of privacy settings on Facebook but there are a few simple steps you can make to help keep you safer.

To get to your privacy settings on the Facebook app:

tap the menu icon (3 horizontal lines)
scroll down to Settings and Privacy
tap Privacy shortcuts.

Important things to change on Facebook:

Who can see your posts
Change the default to Friends for your future posts. If you're worried about people you're friends with seeing what you've written, you can select "Friends except" to choose who you don't want included. You can change who can see your past posts as well.

People and pages that you follow
Change this to friends only or to "Friends except" if there's someone you're friends with who you don't want included.

Friends requests
You can choose either everyone or friends of friends. Remember that even if someone is a friend of a friend, it doesn't mean you can trust them.

Search engines linking to your profile
Turning this off will stop people being able to search for you on sites like Google.

Check what info is on your profile
Make sure your phone number, place of work, and address can't be seen publically. Remember that if you're wearing something with a uniform logo on then they can see where you work or study.

Facebook live
Only live stream to friends and don't share your location.

Reporting content on Facebook:

The way to report abuse changes depending on what you're reporting. You can find out how to report abuse on the Facebook help page or by reading Facebook information on reporting and blocking.

Report bullying, sexting or nude images

Most naked images are against Facebook’s rules and naked pictures of someone under 18 are never allowed. To report a naked picture of you, bullying or something you’ve seen on a live video

On the Facebook app:

select the 3 dots in the top right hand corner of the post or photo
select to leave feedback or report
if you have to leave feedback, select to report the post afterwards
you'll be asked some questions about why you're making a report.

You can also fill out Facebook’s form to report an image or select what best describes what you want to report. Facebook won’t tell the person you’re reporting that it was you. They’ll tell you in your Support Inbox if they’ve been able to take the picture down.

To report something on Facebook Messenger

go to the conversation you want to report
press the i symbol in the top right corner
press "Something's wrong"
select what's happening
after you've left feedback, you can also select to report or block the person.

You can also make a report to Facebook by filling in this form even if you don't have an account.
Facebook has lots of information on how to report other types of content that's being used to bully or threaten you.

Reports are anonymous so the person doing the bullying won’t know who reported it. Facebook will tell you in your Support Inbox if they've been able to help.

Have a look at Facebook's page on privacy to change your privacy settings and control who sees your profile and posts.

You can also hide someone on Facebook. This means that you won't see their posts in your newsfeed, but you'll still be friends with them.

In the Eye of the Storm

Turn off notifications for posts which are overwhelming, you can do this for the post itself or the app as a whole in your phone settings
You can temporarily deactivate your account during stressful or scary times.
Don’t stay in group chats or pages that are stressful

Instagram

Instagram sets your account to public automatically, which means that anyone can see what you do or post.

If your account is private, you can approve who can see your photos and videos, and only people who you've approved can comment on your posts.

Live streams shared to your followers will disappear after they've finished unless you add them to your story. But people are still able to screenshot or record it and Instagram can't delete this.

1. To set your account as private:

go to your profile and tap menu (the 3 horizontal lines)
tap settings
scroll down to Private Account and turn this on.

Remember that you can still block and report anyone who is bullying you on Instagram.

2. Report a naked image or something you find threatening

press the 3 dots in the top right hand corner above the picture or video
select Report
select the reasons you want to report the image.

3.Report bullying, threatening or sending photos to you via direct message

open the direct message from the person you want to report
press the i in the top right hand corner
select Report and enter the reasons you want to report them
you can also block the person by pressing Block User.

Instagram won't tell someone if they've been blocked. Once they are blocked, they won't be able to find your profile, posts or story on Instagram. But they can still mention you using the '@' sign. Changing your username can be a good way to make sure that they can't mention it.

Find out more about reporting to Instagram from their website.

Twitter

What you tweet on Twitter is public unless you've set your account to private. This means that anyone can read, retweet and respond to anything you tweet.

If you protect your tweets, people won't be able to retweet you, and they can only view what you tweet if you approve them to follow you.

1. To protect your tweets:

go to your account and select Privacy and safety
select Protect your Tweets.

2. In the Eye of the Storm

Unfollow anyone who is bullying or harassing you by going to their profile and pressing the 'following' button
Block anyone who is bullying or harassing you by going to their profile, pressing the 3 dots (on Android) or the gear (on iOS) in the top right hand corner and selecting block. Blocking someone stops them from contacting or following you. You can always unblock them if you want to in the future.
If someone creates new accounts to keep harassing you or posts a naked photo of you then you can also make a report to Twitter.
Turn off notifications for posts which are overwhelming, you can do this for the post itself or the app as a whole in your phone settings
You can temporarily deactivate your account during stressful or scary times.
You can mute certain words, phrases, usernames or hashtags which are scary or stressful in advanced muting options.

WhatsApp will automatically allow people to see what's on your profile and when you were last on. Changing your privacy settings can help to keep you safe and stop people bullying or abusing you.

1. To change your settings:

go to your profile
select Account and then Privacy.

You can change the following settings:

Last seen (You can change this to My Contacts to stop people you don't know seeing if you've been online.)
Profile photo and info about you (Setting this to My Contacts can help to keep people you don't know seeing information about you.)
Live location (If you're sharing your location with anyone, you can turn this off here.)

If someone is bullying or harassing you, or sending naked photos of you then you can report and block them. This won’t delete any photos they’ve saved but can get them banned from using the app.

2. To block or report someone:

go to the chat with the person you want to report
tap on the group or person’s name to open their profile
scroll down and press Report
you can also block the person on this page.

Blocking someone on messenger apps means they won’t be able to send you nasty messages. Usually the other person won’t know that you’ve blocked them. You'll just appear offline when they look at their contacts.

3. Can I delete an image I’ve sent to someone?

When you share images on WhatsApp, the person receiving them will then have copies on their phone, which they can share with people inside and outside of WhatsApp. Even if you delete a message or an image from your chat, others may still have a back-up or screenshot.

Video chatting on WhatsApp isn’t recorded automatically, but can still be recorded or screenshotted. Once this happens, you lose control of it.

Tik Tok

Your Tik Tok account is set to public automatically, that means that anyone can view or comment on your videos. It also means that people can search for your account on Tik Tok.

1. Change your privacy settings:

go to your profile on the app
tap the 3 dots in the top right hand corner
select Privacy and Safety.

Changing these settings can help to keep your account safe:

Allow others to find me (Turning this off can help to stop people you don't know from seeing your profile.)
Private account(When your account is private, only people you approve can see your videos and follow you.)
Who can send me comments (Setting this to friends only can stop people you don't know posting nasty comments or pressuring you.)

Tik Tok does not allow sexually explicit videos or live streams, especially when it involves someone under 18. They also don't allow bullying in comments, posts or private messages.

2. To report a video or live stream:

on the video, tap the share icon
tap Report
select It's Inappropriate
choose the reason you're making a report
press Report.

3. To report a comment:

tap and hold the comment you want to report
tap Report
select It's Inappropriate
select the reason you're making a report
press Report.

4. To report a chat:

open the conversation you want to report
tap the 3 dots in the corner of the screen
select It's Inappropriate
tap Report
select the reason you're making a report
press Report.

5. To report an account:

go to the account you want to report
tap the 3 dots in the corner of the screen
tap Report
select It's Inappropriate
select the reason you're making a report
press Report.

Find out more about making a report to Tik Tok.

Tinder and Dating Apps

Tinder and other apps require you to share your location in order to use the app and sets your profile to public automatically. Unless you deactivate the account you were using before deleting the app your profile will sometimes stay public for some time after you have deleted it. If you link your Facebook and Instagram accounts it can be easy for anyone to trace them from your profile. Online dating sites and apps don’t perform background checks or vet their users, so you need to be vigilant when using these services.

Report any instance of misconduct on tinder by clicking the red flag in the top right corner after clicking on their profile or in message view.

Tinder safety tips can be found here.
Hinge safety tips can be found here.
Bumble guidelines and safety advice.

Read more about being careful talking to strangers and staying safe online here.

Skype

When you create an account on Skype, everyone can see your Skype name and location. The best way to keep your name and location private is to not include it on your profile.

You can hide your profile picture from people you don't know. How to do this depends on which type of device you're using, but you can find out how here.

To change who can contact you on Skype

in the app, go to the menu (3 horizontal lines)
scroll down to privacy
set "Receive IMs From" and "Receive Calls From" to "Contacts Only".

It's important to remember that when you're using video chat sites like Skype, Omegle and Discord, whoever is watching you can record or screenshot your conversation without your knowledge.

Video chat sites can't delete images or videos that have been screenshotted or recorded. This is because they're saved directly to the person's device.

Some sites do allow you to report if something's happened, find out how to make a report on:

Skype

Discord.

Tumblr

Tumblr automatically sets your blog and profile to public, meaning that anyone can find and comment on them. You can change these settings to help protect yourself from abuse and keep your account private.

How to change your privacy settings depends on which type of device you're using. Find out how to change your privacy options.

If someone is bullying on Tumblr or they've posted a naked photo of you, you can report it here.

Periscope

You can change your Periscope privacy settings to decide:

whether you'll appear on someone's Superfans list
which live streams Periscope suggests you watch
if people on your Facebook friends list can find you on Periscope.

To change your settings on the Periscope app:

go to your profile page
tap settings
scroll down to Privacy
tap the toggle for anything you want to switch off.

Find out more about changing your privacy settings on Periscope.

You can change your email settings to decide:

which email addresses and email domains you can receive emails from and choose to block or redirect them
which keywords you would like to filter from messages or subject lines