MWCapital, Foundation Barça, Save The Children and FAPMI-ECPAT join forces to fight cyberbullying

• d-LAB, the MWCapital digital transformation programme, launches its third challenge which aims to fight cyberbullying through mobile technology
• This new Call for Proposals seeks solutions to reduce and prevent online bullying and will be open for submission until 23 November
• According to a report published by the Cyberbullying Research Center (USA), 19% of Spanish children between the ages of 8 and 17 report having experienced cyberbullying

October 25, 2017

Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), Foundation Barça, Save The Children (Denmark) and the Federation of Associations for the Prevention of Child Abuse (FAPMI-ECPAT Spain) are teaming up to fight cyberbullying among young people. The initiative falls within the framework of the third challenge being launched by d-LAB, the MWCapital digital transformation programme that boosts the implementation of digital projects to improve people’s lives.

This call for proposals by the d-LAB programme seeks proposals that use mobile technology to prevent cyberbullying and will be open for submission until 23 November. It aims to offer support to victims, ensure incidents are reported and help the youth that cause these situations of violence understand the harm they cause with their actions.

According to data provided by the Cyberbullying Research Center in the USA, 81% of Spanish children between the ages of 8 and 17 report being worried about digital bullying. Among these, 19% report having been bullied or having bullied someone online, while in Catalonia, 1 in 7 students say they have suffered bullying at school.

Digital prevention as a solution to bullying

Cyberbullying is one of the most important challenges currently facing the education community. Easy access to online tools, the immediacy of social media and the absence of geographical barriers in the web 2.0 world are some of the factors that have led to cyberbullying being recognised by the United Nations as a serious form of violence.

The Cyberbullying Research Center states that mobile telephones are the tools most used to commit acts of digital violence. Moreover, 10% of students report feeling threatened or victimized by the use of mobile cameras as a result of the lack of control over photographs that may be taken of them and later distributed.

The significance and magnitude of the problem on a global scale has led d-LAB to choose this area for its third challenge, which seeks to promote the positive and responsible use of mobile technology as part of the solution. The correct use of mobile devices, in addition to greater awareness, protection and providing victims with support can help to reduce the high rates of cyberbullying and empower its victims.

Professional expertise at the participants’ disposal

d-LAB’s challenges are always supported by a group of organisations that are specialists in the areas addressed by these challenges. These institutions offer their knowledge and expertise in order to maximise the impact of the initiatives.

In the case of this third challenge, the Foundation Barça, Save the Children (Denmark) and the Federation of Associations for the Prevention of Child Abuse (FAPMI-ECPAT Spain) are the three Ambassadors who have contributed to the definition of the challenge. These three organisations will support the d-LAB launch and participate in the evaluation of the received submissions. The winning proposals will be announced in February during Mobile Week Barcelona.