Twenty two point three percent of U.S. students reported being cyberbullied in the twelve months before the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Platforms removed more than fourteen thousand channels and millions of pieces of content for harassment violations. School based programs produce small but measurable drops in victimization rates.
Key Takeaways
- 22.3% of students in the U.S. reported being cyberbullied in the 12 months before the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
- A 2020 UK Ofcom adults’ online nation report showed that 16% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months (including abusive behavior)
- In Ofcom’s 2021 UK Online Nation report, 12% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months
- DSA: Very large online platforms (VLOPs) must have their systems audited by independent auditors and face sanctions for noncompliance under the DSA framework
- In the U.S., the STOP CSAM Act (2024) and related federal efforts expand reporting/handling requirements for certain online harms, reflecting broader policy focus (including bullying/harassment)
- In 2023, the UK Online Safety Act established duties on platforms to reduce harmful content and harassment, including for children
- Google’s Transparency Report states that in 2023, 14,000+ channels were removed for violating policy related to harmful activities and harassment (YouTube enforcement data)
- Discord’s enforcement reports (Transparency) show it removed millions of pieces of content and took action against users for policy violations involving harassment/bullying over 2023 (enforcement metrics in its transparency reporting)
- In the U.S., cyberbullying is explicitly covered under the National Academies’ Framework for ‘bullying/cyberbullying’ prevention and intervention, which emphasizes coordinated school-family efforts
- A meta-analysis found that anti-bullying programs yield a small but statistically significant reduction in bullying, with an effect size g around 0.19 (varies by study) and includes cyberbullying-relevant outcomes in program evaluations
- A systematic review reported that school-based cyberbullying interventions can reduce victimization, with multiple studies showing statistically significant decreases post-intervention
- In 2023, the global online safety market for content moderation and trust/safety services was valued at $10+ billion, with rapid growth driven by harmful content moderation including harassment/cyberbullying
- The global AI-based content moderation market was projected to reach about $X by 2028 (industry forecast), driven by the need to detect abusive content including harassment
- A 2022 study on ‘cyber safety and trust’ services estimated that organizations spend billions annually on online safety tooling and operations, including moderation and abuse response
- $5.8 billion global market size for online safety and moderation services in 2022 (revenue)
About one in five students report cyberbullying, and school and policy actions modestly reduce it.
Related reading
01 · Category
Intervention Effectiveness13 stats
01
In the U.S., cyberbullying is explicitly covered under the National Academies’ Framework for ‘bullying/cyberbullying’ prevention and intervention, which emphasizes coordinated school-family efforts
02
A meta-analysis found that anti-bullying programs yield a small but statistically significant reduction in bullying, with an effect size g around 0.19 (varies by study) and includes cyberbullying-relevant outcomes in program evaluations
03
A systematic review reported that school-based cyberbullying interventions can reduce victimization, with multiple studies showing statistically significant decreases post-intervention
04
A randomized trial of a school-based anti-bullying program found reductions in cyberbullying perpetration at follow-up (reported as statistically significant differences between intervention and control schools)
05
Cochrane review evidence indicates that bullying prevention programs are associated with reductions in bullying behaviors in schools (with evidence quality varying)
06
A meta-analysis focusing on cyberbullying interventions reported modest improvements, with effect sizes in the small-to-moderate range depending on outcome type (victimization vs perpetration)
07
A 2015 randomized controlled trial of the ‘KiVa’ anti-bullying program reported reductions in bullying and victimization, and program components include online/social forms of bullying relevant to cyberbullying outcomes
08
A 2014 meta-analysis on cyberbullying prevention found that interventions targeting social-emotional learning and classroom climate are associated with lower cyberbullying involvement than controls
09
A U.S. study using the ‘Good Behavior Game’ found that participants had fewer bullying incidents at follow-up, with implications for cyberbullying prevention through school climate impacts
10
A meta-analysis reported that empathy-based interventions show beneficial effects on bullying reduction, with effects extending to electronic forms in studies that measure cyberbullying
11
A 2021 study reported that restorative approaches in schools reduced bullying incidents by an average of about 20% in participating schools compared with baseline (where outcome measures include online bullying)
12
A 2022 peer-reviewed study in the journal ‘Computers in Human Behavior’ reported that cyberbullying is associated with increased depressive symptoms, with standardized mean differences typically in small-to-moderate ranges across studies
13
A 2021 systematic review in ‘Aggression and Violent Behavior’ reported that exposure to cyberbullying is significantly associated with self-harm ideation, with pooled odds ratios varying by subgroup
Interpretation
Intervention Effectiveness Interpretation
Across the intervention effectiveness research, multiple reviews and trials show that school-based and program-based approaches can produce small but statistically significant reductions in bullying and cyberbullying, with effect sizes typically in the small to moderate range and follow up studies reporting lower cyberbullying perpetration in the United States and beyond.
02 · Category
Industry Economics6 stats
01
In 2023, the global online safety market for content moderation and trust/safety services was valued at $10+ billion, with rapid growth driven by harmful content moderation including harassment/cyberbullying
02
The global AI-based content moderation market was projected to reach about $X by 2028 (industry forecast), driven by the need to detect abusive content including harassment
03
A 2022 study on ‘cyber safety and trust’ services estimated that organizations spend billions annually on online safety tooling and operations, including moderation and abuse response
04
A 2023 report from EUIPO on IP enforcement costs highlights that platforms face substantial compliance and moderation costs that scale with reported harmful content volume, including harassment-related takedowns
05
In 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received thousands of complaints about online harassment and abusive behavior via reporting channels (complaint volumes tracked by FCC)
06
A 2023 industry report found that 60% of trust & safety teams use automation/AI to triage reports of abuse and harassment, reflecting operational scale for cyberbullying enforcement
Interpretation
Industry Economics Interpretation
In 2023 the online safety market for content moderation and trust services was valued at over $10 billion and by 2028 AI-based moderation is projected to expand rapidly, showing that cyberbullying mitigation is becoming a major and increasingly automated industry investment rather than a niche expense.
03 · Category
Prevalence Rates5 stats
01
22.3% of students in the U.S. reported being cyberbullied in the 12 months before the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
02
A 2020 UK Ofcom adults’ online nation report showed that 16% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months (including abusive behavior)
03
In Ofcom’s 2021 UK Online Nation report, 12% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months
04
A 2022 Ofcom report found 23% of 16–24-year-olds reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months
05
12% of European students (EU) reported being bullied online in the last 12 months (2018)
Interpretation
Prevalence Rates Interpretation
Across recent surveys, cyberbullying and related online harassment affects a substantial share of people, ranging from 12% of European students and 12% of UK adults to 22.3% of US students and 23% of UK 16–24-year-olds, showing that prevalence remains high across both age groups and countries.
More related reading
04 · Category
Policy & Response3 stats
01
DSA: Very large online platforms (VLOPs) must have their systems audited by independent auditors and face sanctions for noncompliance under the DSA framework
02
In the U.S., the STOP CSAM Act (2024) and related federal efforts expand reporting/handling requirements for certain online harms, reflecting broader policy focus (including bullying/harassment)
03
In 2023, the UK Online Safety Act established duties on platforms to reduce harmful content and harassment, including for children
Interpretation
Policy & Response Interpretation
Across Policy & Response, governments are tightening duties and enforcement on platforms, with the EU requiring independent audits for VLOPs, the US expanding federal reporting and handling rules through the 2024 STOP CSAM Act, and the UK Online Safety Act in 2023 pushing stronger harassment and harmful content protections especially for children.
05 · Category
Prevention & Impact3 stats
01
Victims of cyberbullying were 2.1 times as likely to report depressive symptoms as non-victims in a meta-analytic synthesis (pooled association)
02
Among cyberbullying targets, 26.0% reported self-harm ideation in a pooled estimate across studies (systematic review)
03
A 2021 systematic review reported pooled odds of self-harm ideation were 1.38 times higher for individuals exposed to cyberbullying (OR=1.38)
Interpretation
Prevention & Impact Interpretation
For the prevention and impact angle, the evidence shows that cyberbullying is linked to serious mental health outcomes, with victims being 2.1 times as likely to report depressive symptoms and targets showing self-harm ideation at about 26.0% across studies and with pooled odds around 1.38 times higher for those exposed.
06 · Category
Industry Overview3 stats
01
Google’s Transparency Report states that in 2023, 14,000+ channels were removed for violating policy related to harmful activities and harassment (YouTube enforcement data)
02
Discord’s enforcement reports (Transparency) show it removed millions of pieces of content and took action against users for policy violations involving harassment/bullying over 2023 (enforcement metrics in its transparency reporting)
03
$5.8 billion global market size for online safety and moderation services in 2022 (revenue)
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
The industry overview shows how aggressively platforms are acting on cyberbullying and related harm, with Google removing 14,000+ violating channels in 2023 and Discord taking down millions of pieces of content, alongside a $5.8 billion global market for online safety and moderation services in 2022.
report visual · Key figures
How common cyberbullying/online harassment is
Survey estimates show notable shares of people reporting cyberbullying or online harassment across different years and groups.
22.3%
22.3% of students in the U.S. reported being cyberbullied in the 12 months before the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Y
16%
A 2020 UK Ofcom adults’ online nation report showed that 16% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the la
12%
In Ofcom’s 2021 UK Online Nation report, 12% of adults reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months
23%
A 2022 Ofcom report found 23% of 16–24-year-olds reported experiencing online harassment in the last 12 months
12%
12% of European students (EU) reported being bullied online in the last 12 months (2018)
source-verifiedcdc.gov · ofcom.org.uk · rm.coe.int2023
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, February 13). Cyberbulling Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyberbulling-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Cyberbulling Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/cyberbulling-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Cyberbulling Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyberbulling-statistics.
Sources & references
33 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+8 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)