From meme accounts, to playground pranks, banter is a quintessential part of British culture. However, a new report released today by cyberbullying charity Cybersmile and Instagram reveals more than half (51%) of young people (13-18 year olds) think banter is sometimes used as an excuse for bullying.

The report, which surveyed 3,000 13-18 year olds for Anti-Bullying Week (11-16 Nov), encourages young people to talk more about the fine line between bullying and banter.

The study found that two thirds (66%) of young people who have seen a friend left upset or insulted by banter have done so at least once a month and over a third (39%) see this occur weekly. What’s more, almost half (48%) have been personally upset or insulted by banter.

Backing the Banter or Bullying? campaign are comedian Mo Gilligan and social media stars Zoe Sugg (founder of Zoella) and Chessie King. Mo and Chessie will be releasing some specially created content for IGTV, sharing their own experiences of banter and bullying to encourage young people to talk more openly about the topic.

Mo Gilligan said: “We all love a bit of banter. It's what we Brits do. But let's not lose these qualities to bullies and negativity. Let’s talk openly if things get tough, put out positivity wherever we can and look out for each other.”

Zoe Sugg said: “I share a lot of my life online and I know first-hand how damaging it can be to be on the receiving end of hateful comments. I’m often told they’re ‘just banter’ and I should let it go. Banter is never an excuse for bullying; they are different things - one should make you laugh, the other does the opposite. Encouraging people to say when it's not ok will make sure we keep banter funny, and bullies at bay.”

When banter turns to bullying: anti-bullying tools on Instagram

Instagram is committed to leading the fight against online bullying and has introduced a number of features to give young people greater control over what they see and experience. ‘Comment Warning’ is an AI-powered feature which asks people to think twice about a post that may contain bullying before it's shared. If the technology detects potential bullying in a caption, it will give people the option to edit or undo that post before it is uploaded.  

Instagram’s Restrict tool empowers teens to quietly protect their account while still keeping an eye on a bully and anyone can report or block someone for bullying behaviour within the app, as well as creating bespoke comment filters to hide specific words or emojis that upset them.* 

Kira Wong O’Connor, EMEA Policy Programmes Manager, Instagram, said: “Banter should never be used as an excuse for bullying. We’re working hard to empower people to tackle bullying behaviour on Instagram, whether that’s restricting a bully from seeing when you’re online, or giving you the option to post Stories to Close Friends only. This Anti-Bullying Week we’d encourage parents and teens to explore how our anti-bullying tools can help keep their experience on Instagram positive.”

Dan Raisbeck, Co-founder, Cybersmile, said: “As our research shows, too many young people are on the receiving end of bullying which is being masked as banter. This happens online and offline, and the two cannot be treated in isolation. We urge people to think about when they are overstepping the mark, and to challenge others who do so. By talking openly about this issue, we can help ensure that banter is kept safe from the bullies.”

Survey of 3000 13-18 year olds conducted by Censuswide between 28 Oct- 4 Nov 2019.

*An overview of Instagram’s anti-bullying tools, for more information visit here.

1. Comment Filter: Are their particular words, phrases or emoji’s which upset you? Instagram has a tool that lets you decide what you don’t want to see – go to your settings and add to your comment filter and you won’t see these come up on your posts again.
2. Restrict: Restrict empowers you to quietly protect your account while still keeping an eye on the bully. When you Restrict someone, comments on your posts from that person will only be visible to that person and they won’t be able to see when you are active on Instagram or have read a direct message from them
3. Comment Warning: Instagram’s new AI powered feature notifies people when their comment may be considered offensive before it’s posted, giving them a chance to reflect and choose to not post something unkind or hurtful.
4. Muting: The mute feature means you’ll still follow someone, but it lets you decide when to view their content, without causing offence or issues as only you’ll know you’ve muted them.
5. Blocking: If you want to prevent all interactions with an account, you can block someone. This means you won’t see their content anymore, they won’t see yours either, and your account won’t appear in their searches or suggestions.
6. Privacy: You can set your privacy any way you like - just want to share your updates with your close friends? Consider turning your account to private, or using the Close Friends tool to share your Stories with a personally curated list of your followers.
7. Reporting: If someone is posting abusive or hurtful comments you can report any piece of content (including DMs or comments) in just a few taps within the app and Instagram’s team of reviewers work 24/7 to review reports and remove anything that breaks guidelines.