Free Speech in Virtual Spaces

You may come across situations on campus, the internet, and/or social media which you may
not agree with – or that specifically targets you, a group of individuals, or an ideology. The
University makes every effort to make sure all students, staff, faculty, and guests are treated
fairly.

Bullying and harassment falls under Policy Violation 7, which can be found directly under the
University’s standards for student conduct: (7) “Conduct that threatens or endangers the health
or safety of any person within or related to the University community, including physical abuse,
threats, intimidation, harassment, or sexual misconduct.”

Bullying and Harassment Overview

Bullying is any unwanted, aggressive behavior with the intent of controlling or harming other
individuals. Bullying includes, but is not limited to, spreading rumors, attacking someone
physically or verbally, or excluding someone from a group on purpose. Some types of bullying
include the following:

• Verbal
• Social
• Physical
• Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an
individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who
cannot easily defend themselves. As a Cal State San Marcos student, it is important to identify
acts of cyberbullying:
• Posting comments or rumors about someone online that are mean, hurtful, or
embarrassing.
• Threatening to hurt someone or telling them to kill themselves.
• Posting a mean or hurtful picture or video.
• Pretending to be someone else online in order to solicit or post personal or false
information about someone else.
• Posting mean or hateful names, comments, or content about any race, religion,
ethnicity, or other personal characteristics online.
• Creating a mean or hurtful webpage about someone.
• Doxing - to threaten and destroy the privacy of individuals by making their personal
information public, including addresses, social security, credit card and phone numbers,
links to social media accounts, and other private data.

Tips for Students

Here are some ways that you can combat cyberbullying:

1. Do not delete or dispose of online communications (threats, comments, postings, etc.) It
   could be evidence.
2. Save or make copies of photographs, comments, postings, videos, etc. for reporting
   purposes.
3. Do not touch or otherwise remove offensive or unauthorized postings on campus. Report them to the appropriate offices or the University Police Department.
4. Avoid participating on forums or sites that encourage anonymous posts.
5. Update privacy settings on social media to a level you are comfortable with.
6. Contact the website operator or appropriate campus offices to initiate a complaint.

You may contact these offices for support if you or someone you know is experiencing
harassment or bullying.

University Police Department
Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation (DHR)
The Office of Inclusive Excellence
CSUSM Student Conduct

*Language for this page is derived with permission from CSULB’s Office of Student Conduct &
Ethical Development.