Cyberbullying Statistics Revealed: The Silent Crisis After Affecting Millions

Bullying is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide, with nearly half of US teens admitting they have been bullied or harassed online. This abusive behavior is not new and existed long before the Internet made its first debut in our households. But things took to the next level with the arrival of smartphones and the explosive rise of social media, creating the perfect environment for these aggressive practices to evolve into what we know as cyberbullying.

In a fully digitalized world where the Internet never sleeps, cyberbullying is becoming a new pandemic that causes mental, emotional and physical distress to its victims 24/7. And despite the constant efforts to diminish its scope and destructive results, harassment online across email, social media, forums and messaging apps has no foreseeable ending. 

But, how bad is cyberbullying in 2025? Here’s what its main stats and trends tell us about it.

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Cyberbullying Stats 2025 (Top Picks)

• 43.8% of US teens have experienced one or more of six forms of cyberbullying.
• 26% of US children have suffered more cyberbullying since the pandemic.
• 14% of cyberbullies admitted to increasing their harassing behavior since the pandemic.
• 95% of social media creators have suffered cyberbullying through their career.
• 26.5% of US teens have experienced cyberbullying within the last 30 days.
• 73% of girls have received unwanted sexual content.
• Black middle-school cyberbullying victims are 135% more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.
• 74% of US teens believe social media sites are doing a poor job preventing online harassment.

What Age Group is Most Affected by Cyberbullying?

Middle and high school students are more likely to suffer cyberbullying in any of their forms. A recent survey made by the Cyberbullying Research Center shows that 26.5% of US teens aged from 13 to 17 have experienced cyberbullying in the last 30 days. The numbers increase dramatically in lifetime figures, with 54.6% of US teens aged 13 to 17 having experienced some sort of cyberbullying in their lifetime. 

Adults are also victims of cyberbullying, with 76% US of online gamers aged 18-45 having reported being victims of extreme harassment. From these, almost half reported discrimination and more than a quarter detailed sexual harassment. 

If we look outside the US, the Office for National Statistics published a survey where 21% of adults living in England and Wales admitted to suffering some sort of online bullying in the past 12 months.

What Gender Group is Most Affected by Cyberbullying?

If we look at the  gender demographics, 28.6% of middle and high school girls have been cyberbullied during the last month, compared to 24.2% of males. If we look at it in lifetime figures, 59.2% of middle and high school girls have experienced cyberbullying, while only 49.5% of boys have.

(Source: Cyberbullying.org)

According to the Teens and Cyberbullying 2022 report by Pew Research Center, age plays a significant role in cyberbullying by genre. Teenage girls aged 15 to 17 are more likely to experience cyberbullying, with 54% of them having stated that they suffered one of their forms, compared to 41% of girls aged 13 to 14. The same situation can be seen in males, with boys aged 15 to 17 having reported some sort of cyberbullying (44%) in comparison to incidents reported by 13 to 14 year old ones (41%).

There are other clear indicators on a girl’s vulnerability online in comparison to their male peers. Girlguiding’s Girl’s Attitudes survey shows how 73% of girls and women aged from 13 to 21 have received unwanted sexual photos through the Internet. Also, 57% of women stated they experienced sexist comments online and more than 33% admitted they had embarrassing photos of themselves sent to other people against their will. 

Cyberbullying Among LGBTQ+ Teens in the US

Adolescents who are gay or lesbian, as well as those who are struggling with their sexuality or gender identity are most susceptible to cyberbullying. According to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 25% of LGBTQ+ teens suffered some sort of cyberbullying during the last year, in comparison to the 13% suffered by cisgender students.

Numbers increase if we look at lifetime figures. As stated by the Bullying and Suicide Risk Among LGBTQ+ Youth report by The Trevor Project, 52% of LGBTQ+ teens in middle and high school admitted to have suffered some sort of bullying, with 42% of it being online. More alarmingly, LGBTQ+ students who were cyberbullied during the last 12 months were more likely to attempt suicide than those who were not bullied.

Regarding social media platforms and the safety of LGBTQ+ users, none of the biggest sites receive passing grades in the Social Media Safety Index created by GLAAD. TikTok rates are the best, scoring 67% (the equivalent of D+) of safety for LGBTQ+ users. 

Here’s a breakdown of the results:

• TikTok: 67% (D+)
• Facebook: 58% (F)
• Instagram: 58% (F)
• YouTube: 58% (F)
• Threads: 51% (F)
• Twitter: 41% (F)

What is the Most Common Type of Cyberbullying Among US Teens?

According to a recent survey made by the Cyberbullying Research Center, the most common type of cyberbullying reported by US teens was having mean or hurtful comments posted online about them (30.4%). In second and third position we find someone intentionally excluding someone from a group text or chat (28.9%) and someone spreading rumors online (28.4%). Closing the top 5 we find someone embarrassing or humiliating someone online (26.9%) or someone repeatedly contacting someone through text or online messages even after being told to stop (22.5%).

Here’s a complete breakdown of the results:

• I have been cyberbullied (lifetime): 54.6%
• I have been cyberbullied: 26.5%
• Mean or hurtful comments online: 30.4%
• Someone intentionally excluded me from a group text or chat: 28.9%
• Spread rumors online: 28.4%
• Someone embarrassed or humiliated me online: 26.9%
• Someone repeatedly contacted me via text or online: 22.5%
• Threatened to hurt me through a cell phone text: 20.7%
• Someone encouraged other to gang up on me online: 18.9%
• Threatened to hurt me online: 18.5%
• Posted mean names or comments online about me with a sexual meaning: 15.9%
• Posted a mean or hurtful picture online of me: 15.1%
• Posted mean names or comments online about my race or color: 14.3%
• Someone stalked me online: 14%
• Someone shared my personal information online without my permission: 12.8%
• Pretended to be me online: 12.5%
• Posted a mean or hurtful video online of me: 10.1%
• Someone tracked or monitored my location or activities after I told them to stop: 9.8%
• Posted mean names or comments online about my religion: 8.8%
• Created a mean or hurtful web page about me: 7.2%
• One or more of above, two or more times: 43.8%

Which Countries Have the Highest Rate of Cyberbullying?

As reported by Statista, South African Internet users are at most risk of suffering cyberbullying, with 36% of the respondents stating they had been exposed to some sort of online harassment or harm. In second and third position we have India and the United States with 29%, closely followed by Australia (27%) and Canada (24%).

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the results:

1. South Africa- 36%
2. India- 29%
3. United States- 29%
4. Australia- 27%
5. Canada- 24%
6. Denmark- 22%
7. United Kingdom- 22%
8. Singapore- 21%
9. Mexico- 20%
10. Germany- 19%
11. Czechia- 18%
12. Colombia- 17%
13. Brazil- 16%
14. Italy- 13%
15. South Korea- 11%
16. Spain- 11%
17. France- 10%

What is Currently Done to Stop Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is increasing at an alarming rate, being now more prevalent in the US than in-school bullying. In an attempt to stop this, governments and social media platforms are taking action, trying to catch and punish the perpetrators before more harm can be done.  

As shown by the Cyberbullying Research Center, 44 out of 50 US states have special laws and criminal sanctions for cyberbullying and online harassment. Platforms like Facebook also reported that during Q2 2024, they took action against 8 million content pieces for bullying and harassment. Also, Meta reports that they find and take action in 88.9% of cyberbullying cases before they are even reported by users.

Other platforms, like Instagram, are very aware of the dangers and harm done by cyberbullying. For that reason, their proactive rate even surpasses Meta’s, reaching 96.9% of cases spotted and taken care of before they are even reported. On the other end of the scale we have X (formerly Twitter), with almost 50% of its users thinking cyberbullying is a major problem in the platform.

However, as encouraging the data can be, it often clashes with reality. According to the Oxford Academic’s Cyberbullying in Social Media report, 71% of users believe that social media networks aren’t doing enough to prevent cyberbullying. 

Can an Adult be a Victim of Cyberbullying?

While children and teens are the usual victims of cyberbullying, adults can also be targets of harassment online. On average, 64% of young adults (people between the ages of 18 to 29) in the US have faced some kind of cyberbullying. As shown by the data, adult cyberbullying normally targets those with protected characteristics such as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, pregnancy and maternity, religion or sexual orientation. For example, in Canada, 44% of women and gender-diverse people aged from 16-30 have been victims of cyberbullying. (Source: Canadian Women’s Foundation)

Which Social Media Platforms Have the Most Reports of Cyberbullying?

As shown by the Social responsibility on the Internet: Addressing the challenge of cyberbullying, Instagram is the platform with the most reports of online harassment. Specifically, 42% of the surveyed stated they suffered cyberbullying on Instagram, 37% on Facebook and 31% on Snapchat.

Here are the results in detail:

1. Instagram- 42%
2. Facebook- 37%
3. Snapchat- 31%
4. WhatsApp- 12%
5. YouTube- 10%
6. Twitter- 9%

Conclusion

While the classic children’s rhyme Sticks and Stones attempts to serve as a defense against name-calling and bullying, in reality words can definitely hurt an individual. Cyberbullying is currently one of the major issues faced by middle-school and high-school students, as well as young adults. Its effects are devastating, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety and even suicide attempts.

The rise of social media platforms, as well as the ownership of smartphones at a very young age are two of the main culprits of this cyberbullying pandemic. And while there have been a variety of anti-cyberbullying measures taken, the risks of online harassment still remain.