Combating Cyberbullying in Nigeria: A Case for the Media and Information Literacy City.

Abstract

The value neutrality of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) affords users the luxury of determining the gratification to be derived from technological devices usage, whether positive or adverse. The outbreak of menaces such as cyberbullying, which is an adverse externality of technology’s value neutrality, has necessitated the development of country-specific laws, established to address cyberbullying. While acknowledging the roles of these antibullying policies and other multidisciplinary control measures, either recommended or already in use, this study investigated the prevalence of cyberbullying in Nigeria and its control measures, through a review of studies that had been conducted in Nigeria. From the review, it was noted that most of the available studies were conducted in educational silos and focused on legal and psychological control models without recourse to the socio and techno-cultural context of cyberbullying as a derivative of information society. This article, within the context of information society, recommends media and information literacy education as a tool for addressing cyberbullying.