A/HRC/31/20 adopted the Harmful Digital Communications Act,12 which criminalizes sending messages and posting material online that deliberately cause serious emotional distress or incitement to commit suicide. The new legislation is designed to deter and prevent harmful communications, reduce their impact on victims and establish new systems for quickly resolving complaints and removing damaging online material. It provides a broad range of remedies that a district court can order, including taking down material; publishing a correction or an apology or giving the complainant a right of reply; or releasing the identity of the source of an anonymous communication. 87. Other countries have also established new remedies in law to enable victims of cyberbullying to initiate civil proceedings against the bully or seek protection orders. These measures include prohibiting communication with a specified person, restricting the use of any means of electronic communication or confiscating, temporarily or permanently, an electronic device used for cyberbullying. 88. Another approach involves the establishment of a dedicated body with a mandate to tackle cyberbullying. Such a body could have a range of functions including the investigation of complaints regarding cyberbullying, setting standards for online safety, liaising with Internet intermediaries and end users responsible for generating content to find a swift resolution to the complaint, or issuing formal requests to Internet intermediaries or end users to remove material from the Internet. For example, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act 2015 adopted by Australia13 provides for the establishment of a children’s e-safety commissioner, whose principal function is to administer a complaints system for cyberbullying material that provides for the rapid removal from social media of such material targeted at a child, while also promoting online safety for children. 89. A final example is an approach whereby national legislation focuses on the school setting, in view of its critical potential to prevent and tackle this phenomenon. In these cases, legislation may specify prohibited conduct; identify the vulnerable groups that should particularly benefit from anti-bulling initiatives; inform victims of ways of redress; provide detailed guidance on the investigation of incidents; and advise on the training of staff to help prevent, identify and respond to bullying. 90. In the Philippines, the Anti-Bullying Act of 201314 introduced measures requiring all elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to address bullying, including when committed through the use of technology or any electronic means. The law establishes mechanisms and relevant reporting requirements and provides for sanctions for noncompliance. Prevention, awareness-raising and children’s empowerment 91. Preventing cyberbullying is a priority for children and adults. Often occurring on a continuum, it needs to be tackled in schools and in the home. Initiatives in this area encompass awareness-raising and understanding what constitutes cyberbullying and its associated risks and consequences, both intended and unintended. In this process it is important to promote an ethical approach to cyberspace communication, strengthening the values of respect and concern for others among children and their sense of responsibility to prevent discrimination and promote online safety; it is equally essential that children learn ways of ensuring their own protection, including by learning how to identify the types of online risks, ways of coping with the distress online abuse causes, ways to enhance their 12 13 14 Available from www.justice.govt.nz/policy/criminal-justice/harmful-digital-communications/keymeasures. Available from www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2015A00024. Available from www.gov.ph/2013/09/12/republic-act-no-10627/. 17