Defining Cyber Bullying and Trolling

Literature review

Cyber Bullying is considered to be a new form of bullying, which means that using a new form of technology, something that has been practiced before is now being perpetrated through a different medium (Campbell, 2005). Cyber bullying can be defined by reference to bullying. Bullying is the abusive treatment of a person by means of force or coercion by another person, who shows the aggressive behaviour repeatedly with the intention to harm the victim (Campbell, 2005). Bullying does not occur with provocation and is usually an unprovoked display of aggression by one person to another (Campbell, 2005). Building on this definition, cyber bullying is also a form of the same aggressive, unprovoked and intentionally harmful behaviour using internet technology (Campbell, 2005). Cyber bullying can be perpetrated through email, text, mobile phones, and internet, to name a few means of perpetrating the offence (Campbell, 2005). Cyber bullies use these mediums to send derogatory messages, threatening emails, and publicly humiliating messages to the victims of cyber bullying (Campbell, 2005).

A new form of cyber bullying is now seen in the incidence of trolling, which is also an online version of bullying as it involves aggression by the perpetrator aimed at harassing the victim of trolling. A greater number of people are now exposed to trolling (Rafferty, 2011). Trolling is done with three primary motivations, which are creation or perpetuation of informal social control, dominance, and entertainment at the expense of the victim (Rafferty, 2011). Cyber bullying does not merely impact adults, many children and teenagers are also victims of cyber bullying and trolling (DeHue, Bolman, & Völlink, 2008). For teenagers and young people, the risk of cyber bullying also comes from increasing use of internet and the lesser involvement of parents in the online activities of their children (DeHue, Bolman, & Völlink, 2008).

Trolling involves use of aggressive and abusive language on an online platform with the intent of causing psychological injury to the victims (Rafferty, 2011). The incidence of trolling has increased due to the advent of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter that allow users to make instantaneous comments (Rafferty, 2011). There is also the issue of easy access that makes the use of social media conducive to trolling (Bishop, 2014). Therefore, social media and internet give opportunities to perpetrators of trolling and cyber bullying (Bishop, 2014). The variations in cultural norm of adherence to rules in the society impacts the trolling behaviour with many people giving way to discourteous behaviour towards others (Fichman & Sanfilippo, 2016). In other countries, the issue of trolling has been taken very seriously as a form of cyber bullying. For example, in the United Kingdom, the focus has shifted to making new laws that target trolls and cyber bullies and punish such acts with a minimum of two years punishment (BBC News, 2014). As more and more countries see an increase in use of internet and social media, there is a need to respond to the risks posed by such usage by the law and authorities of the state. In case of Qatar, there is a significant increase in the use of social media and internet in the recent period of time. In this, Qatar’s experience is similar to that of the rest of the Arab world, which has seen an exponential rise in the use of internet over the years (TNS, 2015). The issue that also arises in this situation of increased internet and social media usage is that although there is an apparent growth of social media in the Arab world, and social media and internet use can be described as extensive in the Arab world, there is lack of comprehensive and accurate accounting of social media use for these countries (Al Jenaibi, 2011). In other words, there is very little quantitative research on social media usage in the Arab context, which means that there is a paucity of data on incidence of social media usage and risks of cyber bullying. The extensive study conducted in 2015 and entitled the ‘Arab Social Media Report’ was conducted with the help of more than 7000 interviews, quantitative surveys, and a number of focus group discussions and in-depth interviews (TNS, 2015). The report’s findings shed light on the recent perceptions and trends about social media usage in the Arab countries (TNS, 2015). The first important finding of this report is that the Arab countries contain a very youthful population as “more than one-third of the population in each country consists of people aged 25 years or younger” (TNS, 2015, p. 8). With respect to social media usage, this finding is crucial because the majority of the social media users (approximately 77%) in Arab countries are comprised by people of ages between 16 and 34 years (TNS, 2015, p. 8). With reference to the significance of social media usage in Arab countries, the report states:

“Social media is a platform for many of the Arab youth to express their point of view, their creativity and their genius. Social media is a shield and an enabler of expression and creativity: Without it, other more direct forms of expression (e.g. face-to-face) would feel overwhelming for certain young Arab individuals. The importance of freedom of expression is seen to be more salient in the Levant countries than in the remaining regions” (TNS, 2015, p. 54).

With regard to young people and teenagers, the risk of cyber bullying is greater because of the significant engagement that young people have with mobile phone culture (Nurullah, 2009). There is a redefinition of social contact due to the increase in mobile phone and social media usage, which also means that more young people are exposed to the risk of cyber bullying (Nurullah, 2009). This is also corroborated by the increase in cyber crimes in the Arab countries, and all the Arab countries have seen an increase in cyber crimes in the past few years (Bamatraf, 2014). In part, the increase in advanced telecommunication network coverage is one of the reasons for increased cyber crime incidence in some Arab countries (Bamatraf, 2014). For instance, police reports in Qatar suggest that there is an increase in the daily internet usage amongst the young people in Qatar, which is one of the reasons why there is an increase in cybercrime in Qatar (Bamatraf, 2014). Access to internet and social media as well as access to mobile phones and other gadgets is also attributed to the high average income levels in Qatar, which the police reports suggests is the reason why there is an increase in cybercrimes in Qatar (Bamatraf, 2014). In Qatar, a significant number of the population has access to computers, internet and mobile phone technologies, and this brings about the convergence of the perpetrators and the victims of the cyber crimes as they are all accessing internet and social media (Bamatraf, 2014).

Although cyber crimes are on the rise, there is a paucity of legal measures to respond to cyber crimes. In part, the difficulty with the conceptual issues regarding cyber crimes is the reason why there is slow response to cyber crimes in the criminal law (Vincent, 2017). Most categories of cyber crimes, including cyber bullying are difficult to conceptualise and that has implications for the responses to cyber crimes through criminal law (Vincent, 2017). In Qatar, the rise in cyber crimes has not seen a corresponding development of legal and government policy measures for responding to cyber crimes (Altayar, 2017). Qatar has only recently legislated on cybercrimes by passing the Cybercrime Prevention Law 2014. However, the legislative response to cyber bullying is one of the areas where the Qatari law has not been able to respond well. One of the ways in which responses to cyber crimes can be developed is through the Qatar Ministry of Interior. This is the government body that seeks to raise awareness about cyber security in Qatar. Cyber security is an essential aspect of response to cyber crimes, as raising awareness of cyber security and also strengthening measures for cyber security can be effective in providing a strong response to cyber crime (DeHue, Bolman, & Völlink, 2008). Cyber security can help reduce the risks that are posed by internet or social media behaviour.

Research suggests that there is a link between social media usage and risks to individuals with an online presence (Brake, 2014). Some of these risks are the result of the individual behaviour as people may disclose personal information about themselves and such self-disclosure can lead to some risks to the individuals (Brake, 2014). Moreover, social media usage is structured in such a way that people document their lives in a manner of diarists and putting such personal information on public domain may also have some risks attached (Brake, 2014). People in general may not have sufficient knowledge or information about cyber crimes although they have an active social media and internet presence (Brake, 2014). This is corroborated by a study involving 130 students of Zayed University and Abu Dhabi university, which found that of all the participants, only 32% had an adequate level of knowledge about cybercrimes and knew of responsible and irresponsible internet behaviour (Bamatraf, 2014). Predictably, the study found that the participants that were specialising in Computer Information Technology had the highest levels of knowledge about cybercrimes whereas other participants had insufficient knowledge about cyber crimes (Bamatraf, 2014).

There is a link between use of social media and cyber crimes including cyber bullying (Kraft & Wang, 2010). In a study involving 471 college students, it was found that there is a link between social media usage and cyber stalking and although the study did not research a similar link between social media usage and cyber bullying, such a link may be found (Kraft & Wang, 2010). Social media usage exposes people to harassment and trolling (Rafferty, 2011); harassment and trolling are also forms of cyber bullying.

Social media is ubiquitous and there is an increase in the use of social media even by the police for investigations of cyber crimes (Brunty, Miller, & Helenek, 2014). The use of internet and social media for identification of potential victims and obtaining personal information about the victims is one of the reasons why there is an increase in cyber bullying (Brunty, Miller, & Helenek, 2014). With respect to children, exposure to internet increases exposure to cyber bullying (Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2009). Cyber bullying incidence with respect to children as victims has grown exponentially and young children do not have the necessary skills to protect themselves from cyberbullying (Wang, Iannotti, & Nansel, 2009). Children are increasingly left to their own devices by their parents and there is an individualisation of media and the bedroom culture, which has meant that many instances of cyber bullying go unobserved by parents as they are unaware of their children’s online activity (DeHue, Bolman, & Völlink, 2008). On the other hand, parental involvement in and monitoring of their children’s online activity can help reduce the risk of cyber bullying of children (Khurana, Bleakley, Jordan, & Romer, 2015).

As cyber bullying is considered to be a serious phenomenon, a concern as to it being responded to in the forms of legislation or government policy is made out. Legislation on cybercrimes are made complex by three factors: first, cyber space allows ease of access to both victims and perpetrators making it easy for the perpetrators to commit cyber crimes, including cyber bullying; and second, there are no clear and universal definitions of cyber crimes and its many categories, which makes it difficult for law to respond to the issue (Altayar, 2017).

The difficulties associated with cyber crime, should not be a justification for not making legal or policy responses to the problem of cyber crime. In fact, there are many countries that have been able to make responses to cyber crimes. For instance, the UK has extended criminal law to cyber crimes in order to find a solution to the rising incidence of cyber crimes, including cyber bullying (Richardson, 2014; BBC News, 2014). Many of these categories of cyber crimes, such as, cyber stalking and cyber bullying, did not exist in the statute books prior to the legislative changes (Richardson, 2014).

In Canada as well, the legislative response to cyber bullying came after some cases of cyber bullying, which led to cases of teenage suicides in the country (Puzic, 2015). Canada passed the Cyber-Safety Act 2013 as a response to cyber bullying and other cyber crimes, although, a section of the legal community was of the view that there was no need for cyber bullying laws as the as this was already covered under the criminal laws of the land (Fine, 2015). Nevertheless, the Cyber-Safety Act 2013, was introduced in 20 November, 2013 and became effective in March 2015 (Puzic, 2015). While introducing the law, the Justice Minister specifically referred to victimisation by cyber bullying: “You press a button on your cellphone…you literally could be contributing to the death of another person” (Puzic, 2015). Section 2 of the Cyber-Safety Act 2013 provides: “The purpose of this Act is to provide safer communities by creating administrative and court processes that can be used to address and prevent cyberbullying”. Therefore, there is a seriousness attached to the offence in Canada and the Canadian cyber bullying provisions can provide a direction for the similar responses in the Qatar context.

Some studies that are based specifically in Qatar, provide an insight into the level of cyber bullying in Qatar and other related aspects of cyber bullying experience in the Qatari schools and societies. The Global School-based Student Health Survey was conducted in Qatari schools and this survey found that 48% of boys and 35% of girls between the ages of 13 to15 years had one or more bullying experience in the one month prior to the survey (GSHS, 2011). Another study conducted by the Supreme Education Council found that 14% of students did not agree that their school was a safe place for them to be in (Supreme Education Council , 2011). Some studies have also been conducted with the focus on understanding parents’ perspectives on cyber bullying in Qatar. The Supreme Education Council study from 2011 found that 90% of primary parents and 91% of secondary parents were of the opinion that their children were happy in school and had healthy relationships with their peers (Supreme Education Council , 2011). Results were different for the Annual Omnibus Survey of life in Qatar wherein only 44% said their child did not bully other children while 36% parents admitted that they knew that their child sometimes bullied other children (SERSI, 2012). It is possible that there are cultural differences in how parents perceive or define bullying, which may lead to varied results in different studies.

There are two published studies that have extensively considered and reported on the prevalence rates of cyberbullying in Qatar. One of these studies was commissioned by Microsoft (2012), which investigated the phenomenon of online bullying among 8–17 year olds in Qatar and compared the findings with the rest of the world. As per this study, Qatar was found to have the 19th highest rate of cyberbullying out of 25 countries worldwide, with above average rates of cyberbullying in Qatari students at 32% compared to the average rates of 24% (Microsoft , 2012). While the rates of cyber bullying were found to be higher than the average, the knowledge about cyber bullying was found to be below the worldwide average (Microsoft, 2012). Qatari youths demonstrated an average of 50% in terms of knowledge on cyberbullying as compared to 57% worldwide average.

The second extensive study is by Onsor, Alameer, Almonabih, Alqahtani, and Tweem (2012). This study found that 19.5% of Qatari youths were bullies, while 36% were victims. Only 25.9% youths were neutrals with 18.6% youths as bully as well as victims (Onsor, Alameer, Almonabih, Alqahtani, & Tweem, 2012). The study also found that the likelihood of being bullies was higher for local children (21.1% vs. 17.4%), while the likelihood of being victims was higher for non-nationals (39.9% vs. 33.1%) (Onsor, et. al, 2012). The study also identified the common types of bullying incidence in Qatar, with the most prevalent types of bullying being insulting, ignoring and making fun (Onsor, Alameer, Almonabih, Alqahtani, & Tweem, 2012). However, the study only investigated cyberbullying with respect to phone usage but did not consider Internet and social networking as places of bullying behaviour.

Qatar, like other countries in the Gulf, has not had extensive legal responses to the issue of cyber bullying, although the incidence of cyber bullying is certainly high as pointed out by Microsoft (2012). In the Gulf, the common response to cyber crimes has been to focus on penalizing general computer crimes related to state security, economy and public interest (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). Some of the Gulf countries like, Saudi Arabia, have made some provision for cyberbullying and Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Cybercrime Law of 2007 is an example of that (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). In Qatar, the response to cyber bullying prior to 2014 was to regulate and punish the offence under the Qatari Penal Code 2004, which did not really have a specific provision on cyber bullying, but which did have some sections or chapters on computer or cyber crimes, that were used to punish cyber bullying (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). Chapter 5 of Part 7 in the Qatari Penal Code 2004 relates to “Immoral and Disgraceful Actions” which punishes anyone who uses wire, wireless or electronic means to disturb or inconvenience another person (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). These provisions were piecemeal and did not provide adequate protection against cyber bullying. Technological changes in Qatari society meant that the traditional Penal Code was not adequate to respond to the technological changes and challenges in form of cyber crimes, such as, cyber bullying. In 2014, there was a response to the growing concern about cyber crimes through the introduction of the Cybercrime Prevention Law no. 14 of 2014. This legislation specifically targets cyber crimes that are committed against individuals, their privacy and their security. Unfortunately, the crime of cyber bullying is not specifically addressed or defined by the Act although there are some provisions that come close to addressing the offence of cyber bullying. This is done by penalising persons who uses the Internet or an IT device or an IT technique to violate social values; disseminate information in a manner that disrespects another person's privacy; or an engagement in slander (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). Nevertheless, there is a criticism against this Act that it is not enough or adequate to respond to the complexity of cyber bullying and instead simplistic provisions are made to address the crime (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). In particular, a criticism is made out that the distinguishing factors of cyber bullying such as repetitive behaviour and power relations between the bully and the victim are not expressly addressed and the definition of cyber bullying is not complete unless these elements are included (Foody, Samara, Asam, Morsi, & Khattab, 2017). Other than the legislation, there are some other measures that are involved on the part of the Qatari government to respond to the issue of cyber bullying. This is through the implementation of a visible approach to online safety and awareness of cyberbullying by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar).

Information security awareness is defined “as the level of comprehension that users have about the importance of information security best practices” (Abawajy, 2014, p. 237). In a world where the increase of use of Social Media and Information Technology is exponential, it is essential that people are made aware of the best practices that can be adopted by them to ensure that they are not victimised by perpetrators of cyber crimes (Abawajy, 2014).

Awareness of computer security and its methods have been explored in literature based on different countries of the world, which may be considered here. A study concerned with information systems misuse in industrial or corporate set up shows significant ways in which create and use deterrence mechanisms for reduction of such misuse (D'Arcy, Hovav, & Galletta, 2009). Although the study is based in industrial or corporate contexts, the central premise of the study, that is, creation of deterrence against misuse of information systems, can also provide useful insights for creation of deterrence against cyber bullying. One of the key findings from this study is that user awareness of the deterrent mechanisms can strengthen the effect of the deterrent mechanisms (D'Arcy, Hovav, & Galletta, 2009). In particular, the study finds that there are three practices that deter information systems misuse, these being, user awareness of security policies, security education and training, and awareness programmes (D'Arcy, Hovav, & Galletta, 2009). Applying the same principle to the development of cyber security of individuals against the incidents of cyber bullying, it can be noted that awareness of the programmes developed by the Qatari government may increase the level of cyber security for individuals decrease the incidence of cyber bullying (D'Arcy, Hovav, & Galletta, 2009). Awareness of programmes can be conducted at the level of higher education, as seen in another study based in the UAE (Rezgui & Marks, 2008). Individuals are more prone to cyber security issues as compared with organisations and research suggests that vulnerability of individuals to cyber insecurity is one of the reasons why it is easier for perpetrators to target individuals even within organisations (Abawajy, 2014).

Literature contains evidence that goes to show that security awareness training is one of the most cost-effective forms of information security control (Albrechtsen & Hovden, 2010). In one study, the author conducted an experiment on the level of awareness of a phishing attack after training, and found that training was effective in decreasing the number of students that were victimised by phishing attacks (Dodge, 2007). The study also showed that there was in increase in the levels of awareness through interactive content, meaning that the medium of providing awareness to people may also be an important issue in the level of success achieved through training or awareness programmes (Dodge, 2007). Another study by Knapp et al. (2007) found that there is a positive correlation between user information security awareness programmes and increase in perceived levels of security effectiveness. The study advocates that the success of information security programme depends on establishing a security positive environment (Knapp, 2007). In other words, end-users must be made to understand and take part in the behaviours that are expected of them in improving their levels of security awareness and therefore, protecting them from cyber crimes, including cyber bullying (Knapp, 2007).

A study that explores the link between cyber security of home users and cyber security awareness programmes, proposes the application of an E-Awareness Model (E-AM), which is different from other models of awareness as it forces home users to acquaint themselves with the risks involved in venturing into cyber space (Kritzinger & von Solms, 2010). There are two components to the E-AM: the awareness component, which is enclosed in the E-Awareness Portal, and the enforcement component (Kritzinger & von Solms, 2010). The home users are to be made aware of ways in which they can improve their information security awareness by presenting information security content and enforcing the absorption of this content (Kritzinger & von Solms, 2010). In other words, the absorption of the content would be mandatory. The principle behind this approach is that home users are especially vulnerable to cyber crimes and they are not subject to the kind of information security training as are given to individuals working within organisations, where such security trainings may be a mandatory exercise (Kritzinger & von Solms, 2010).

Research Methodology

This chapter will explain the research methodology which will be used to guide this study. The chapter will go into the details of the research methods and also discuss why the research method selected is the most appropriate for this study.

Research aims and objectives

The aim of this research is to explore how the Ministry of Interior and the criminal investigation department raises awareness about cyber bullying and cyber safety among young people in Qatar. It is an exploratory study. The principal research question in the research is as follows:

How does the government raise awareness about cyber bullying in users in the age group of 25 to 35 years in Qatar?

The tentative sub-questions are as follows:

Do social media users between the age group of 25 to 35 years show an understanding of the meaning of cyber bullying?

Do social media users resort to any preventive mechanisms in their social media site settings to prevent cyber bullying?

Do social media users show a preference for having private accounts on social media sites as a response to possible cyber bullying?

Does the Ministry of Interior implement programmes for raising awareness about cyber stalking in Qatar youth? What programmes are these? How far are these programmes perceived to be effective?

Research Methods- Justification and approach

In general, there are three methods for conducting research, these being qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods (Creswell, 2013, p. 12). Qualitative approach may involve either inductive or deductive process (Collis & Hussey, 2009). The research will be conducted under the qualitative research method design. For this research study, the qualitative method is appropriate as the topic of research has not been studied extensively in the context of Qatar and there are layers of perspectives, ideas and experiences that need to be explored. As there is a lack of research on this area in Qatar, qualitative research will be ideal as there is a greater focus on gaining more insight (Creswell, 2013). The flexibility that is allowed in qualitative research makes it appropriate for this complex area of research. There are layers of information that need to be revealed with reference to cyber bullying, for which qualitative research will be appropriate (Walliman, 2015).

Depending on the research objectives and the approach of the researcher, the method which is the most appropriate for a particular study can be selected by the researcher. The researcher may choose to follow either the inductive or deductive approach, and this also is relevant to the research design that the researcher chooses for the research. Inductive research sees the researcher taking and using observable data to formulate a theory, and this means that the researcher moves from the specific to general (Perrin, 2015). The deductive research approach is opposite and sees the researcher move from the general to the specific. Here, the researcher formulates a hypothesis at the commencement of research, collects observations related to the hypothesis, and then analyses the data with the view of testing the hypothesis (Perrin, 2015). In this research, the researcher will follow the inductive approach as the researcher will be moving from the specific to the general. There is a scope for theory building in this research as there is little research on the issue of cyber bullying in Qatar (Opoku, Ahmed, & Akotia, 2016). The objectives of the research can be achieved through a combination of inductive approach and qualitative methods of research.

There will be no fixed hypotheses or any pre-specified methods that will be followed because this is a qualitative research (Willis & Jost, 2007). As part of this research methodology, interview method will be adopted. Interviews will be used to gain more insight into the participants’ universe (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012).

The research will follow descriptive methodology as the purpose of this research is to obtain and present existing information (Monsen & Horn, 2008). For this purpose, the research philosophy that will be followed is positivist. Within positivist philosophy, the researcher accepts certain assumptions about the way he views the world (Collins, 2010). Positivism is objective and scientific and leads to the arrival at findings through the use of available data. For this research, positivist research philosophy will be appropriate because it will allow the researcher to consider the data collected through interviews in an objective manner and arrive at the formulation of a theory through the analysis of this data.

To summarise this section, this study is guided by the positivist research philosophy, to explore the issue of cyber bullying in Qatar. Qualitative research methods are used and the approach to the research is inductive, with the view to theory building. In depth interviews are the principal method for the collection of data for this research.

Access and research process

Obtaining and accessing information in Qatar may present some problems because being an Arabic and Islamic country, reporting of crimes such as cyber stalking, especially where the victims are women, may be a formidable challenge (الصالح, 2014). Researchers have often reported about the problems in accessing data from participants where some sensitive issues are involved in the research subject matter (الصالح, 2014).

The data for this research will be collected through in-depth interviews with five officials from the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation within the Qatar Ministry of Interior (State of Qatar Ministry of Interior, 2016). The research will focus on the criminal investigation department exploring the views of officials on how the Qatar government can address this problem and assist young people not to fall victims of cyber bullying. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for making efforts and developing programs for security and protection of the society. Consequently, public security and cyber security are mandates of the Ministry of Interior. The General Directorate of Criminal Investigation is the Information Systems Department of the Ministry of Interior. This department is responsible for facilitating the implementation of technology related projects of the Ministry of Interior. Interviews will also be conducted with other participants who will be ______________.

Data analysis approach

As qualitative data is also being used in the research, the data collected from the participants will be in the nature of qualitative, which can tend to be scattered and vast. Therefore, organisation and analysis of the data can present certain challenges. The thematic organisation of the data and analysis through the thematic networks tool is an appropriate method for analyzing qualitative data (Attride-Stirking, 2001). Qualitative research can yield meaningful and useful results if the data is analysed in a methodical manner (Attride-Stirking, 2001). The full process of thematic analysis would be done in three broad stages. The reduction or breakdown of the text is done first, followed by exploration of the text by the researcher and finally, the integration of the data explored and analysed is done (Attride-Stirking, 2001). By using this method, the researcher will be able to identify and analyse the predominant themes in the data collected.

Ethical considerations

As qualitative data is being collected and analysed through interviews to arrive at the findings of this research, there are some ethical issues that are raised in this study. Particularly, the issue of confidentiality of the participants’ details. This issue can be resolved by informing the participants that their information shall be left confidential. Another issue is that of informed consent. Participants should be aware of the details of the study, in terms of purpose of the study and the goals. For his purpose, the Information sheet and Informed consent form for interviews will be duly filled and submitted before the commencement of the research. The completed university ethics form will also be attached.

Limitations, validity and reliability issues

The research is qualitative and this may present some reliability issues as the data will be qualitative data. The validity of the findings can be an issue. However, the validity of the findings can be improved through the method of triangulation (Collis & Hussey, 2009). This means that the data from different sources in qualitative research can be used to arrive at the same findings (Bamberger, 2000). When there is such confirmation of findings from different sources, triangulation is observed.

Summary of key points

The findings of the study will have possible impact upon law and policy. At present, Qatar does not have a legislation on cybercrimes and cyber bullying is not dealt within the Penal Code as a specific offence. The findings of the research will reveal the ways in which the Ministry of Interior raises awareness about cyber security and the effectiveness of these programmes in their outreach and message percolation. The gaps in the program effectiveness can be identified and this knowledge can be used to increase the effectiveness of the programs.