Noakes Travis, Noakes Tim
Dr Travis Noakes, Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town 7700, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Adjunct Professor Tim Noakes, Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town 7700, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Heliyon. 2021 Feb 24;7(2):e06326. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06326. eCollection 2021 Feb.
The shift of academic discourse to an online space without guardians gives motivated academic cyberbullies an opportunity to harass susceptible recipients. Cyberbullying by higher education employees is a neglected phenomenon; despite the dangers it poses to academic free speech as well as other negative outcomes. In the absence of an adequate definition for Online Academic Bullying (OAB) as a surfacing threat, its' targets cannot readily gauge its severity or confidently report that they are victims. Nor do their attackers have a reference point for understanding and, perhaps, correcting their own incivility. To remedy this, we propose an analytical framework grounded in Routine Activity Theory (RAT) that can serve as an appropriate reporting instrument. The OABRAT framework is illustrated with an Emeritus Professor's case and the varied examples of cyber harassment that he experienced. This scientific influencer was relentlessly attacked on social media platforms by varied academics for expressing contrarian, but evidence-based, opinions. Spotlighting OAB's distinctive attacks should raise awareness amongst researchers and institutional policy makers. The reporting instrument may further assist with identifying and confronting this threat. This article also flags ethical concerns related to dissident scholars' usage of online platforms for informal, public debates. Such scholars may face an asymmetrical challenge in confronting cyber harassment from hypercritical academics and cybermobs on poorly moderated platforms. Universities should therefor consider appropriate countermeasures to protect both the public and their employees against victimisation by academic cyberbullies.
学术话语转移到没有监管的网络空间，这让有动机的学术网络霸凌者有机会骚扰易受影响的对象。高等教育员工实施的网络霸凌是一个被忽视的现象；尽管它对学术自由言论构成危险以及带来其他负面后果。由于缺乏对作为一种新出现威胁的在线学术霸凌（OAB）的充分定义，其受害者无法轻易判断其严重程度，也无法自信地报告自己是受害者。其攻击者也没有一个参考标准来理解并可能纠正自己的不当行为。为了补救这一点，我们提出一个基于日常活动理论（RAT）的分析框架，它可以作为一种合适的报告工具。通过一位名誉教授的案例以及他所经历的各种网络骚扰例子来说明OAB - RAT框架。这位科学领域的有影响力者因表达与主流不同但有证据支持的观点，在社交媒体平台上遭到了不同学者的无情攻击。突出OAB的独特攻击行为应能提高研究人员和机构政策制定者的意识。该报告工具可能会进一步帮助识别和应对这种威胁。本文还指出了与持不同政见学者在网络平台上进行非正式公开辩论的使用相关的伦理问题。这些学者在面对来自苛刻的学者和管理不善平台上的网络暴民的网络骚扰时，可能会面临不对称的挑战。因此，大学应该考虑采取适当的对策，以保护公众及其员工免受学术网络霸凌者的伤害。
