Cyberbullying Victimisation Reaches Record High Among U.S. Teens

Research published by Axis Intelligence reports that 58 percent of U.S. teens aged 13 to 17 experienced cyberbullying in their lifetime in 2025, the highest rate the Cyberbullying Research Center has recorded in nearly two decades of measurement, up from 33.6 percent in 2016, a 73 percent increase over nine years. For the first time in Cyberbullying Research Center data going back to 2007, boys now report higher past-30-day victimisation rates than girls, at 36.6 percent versus 28.6 percent, driven largely by the surge in financial sextortion targeting teenage males. The analysis states that AI-generated abuse, financial sextortion and deepfake harassment have made 2025 and 2026 the most dangerous digital environment for minors in recorded history.

Statistical evidence of rising victimisation rates documents the scale of the problem but does not interrupt the hostile contact itself. Guardii addresses cyberbullying, abuse of athletes and harassment of women through dedicated detection modules that monitor direct messages across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other platforms in real time, identify hostile, threatening or demeaning language patterns before they reach the recipient, block or flag abusive contact at the point of exchange, and surface a targeted child to a parent, coach, school safeguarding lead or appropriate authority, enabling intervention before repeated exposure compounds psychological harm or escalates into coercion, self-harm or suicide risk.