Keep safe from unwanted contact

Online bullying, nuisance phone calls or texts and spam can come with severe consequences. Find out more about these things and how to protect yourself.

Online bullying and what you can do about it

Online bullying (also known as cyber bullying) is when a person uses digital technology to send, post or publish content with the intention to harm another person or group. This behaviour is often aggressive and repeated.

Online bullying can take many forms, including:

• Name calling
• Repeated, unwanted messages/contact
• Spreading rumours or lies
• Fake accounts used to harass people
• Excluding people from social activities
• Embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles

What to do if you're being bullied online

If you're being bullied, it's important to know how to protect yourself. Every situation of bullying is different. Check out Netsafe's following tips on what to do, depending on what's been going on:

• Don’t reply. Especially to messages from phone numbers, profiles or people you don't know.
• Don’t attack the person back. Avoid giving the bully the satisfaction of a reaction.
• Have a conversation. If it’s safe, try talking to the person privately about what they’ve said or done to work things out.
• Use chat sites or forums that have a moderator. Moderators are able to remove people who cause problems in the forum. 
• Beware of trolls. They are people who will go out of their way to try to get an angry reaction out of others on the internet. Don't engage with them.
• Get support. Talking to friends or whānau can make you feel better. Or, you can reach out to online aids such as: 
  • Netsafe
  • Youthline
  • Lifeline
  • What's up?
• Save messages and images. Take screen shots of the bullying in case you need evidence later. Learn how to record digital evidence: Digital content records
• Cut off the person bullying you. Block their number or block them on social media.
• Report it. Netsafe provides a free service to support those suffering as a result of online abuse. Find out more here: https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new
• There's an NZ law to help. The Harmful Digital Communications Act aims to help people dealing with online bullying, abuse and harassment. Find out more about this Act here: https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/consumer-laws/online-safety-laws-and-rules

Learn about cyberbullying

Nuisance phones calls or texts and how we can help

If you're being bullied over text or phone, you can message our team and we'll be able to get Spark's Call Investigation Centre involved. CIC contact hours are 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Message us

Some abusive calls or texts may be a criminal offence. If you feel threatened, contact your local police station for advice. A call or text of a serious nature may include the following:

• A threat to kill or injure someone
• A threat to damage property
• Explicit language, behaviour or images
• Calls that may breach a protection order

Spam and how to reduce it

Spam refers to emails or texts from an individual or a company that you didn't ask to receive. It's the junk mail that you get, such as advertising or services you don't necessarily want.

The Department of Internal Affairs website has information on laws around spam in New Zealand. Learn more about New Zealand spam law

Sometimes spam is sent by scammers to try and defraud people of money or information. This kind of spam is called phishing. Read more about phishing scams

What to do if you receive spam

To avoid getting spam in your inbox, you can flag it as spam or junk. Flagging the message tells your email account to send this type of email to a separate spam or junk inbox in future.