Bullying in WhatsApp Groups: What You Can Do Now

A photo of you is doing the rounds in the class chat, with nasty comments underneath. Someone set up a group just to talk trash about you. Or you keep getting added and insulted. Bullying in WhatsApp groups affects many young people, and it does not stop after school, because the phone comes home with you. This guide shows how to save evidence without getting yourself into trouble, how to report and block, and what group admins can do.

Is bullying in a WhatsApp group a criminal offence?

“Bullying” is not a separate offence under German law. But individual messages or actions in a group can be criminal offences under the German Criminal Code (StGB), for example:

• Insult (§ 185 StGB): degrading messages, voice notes or stickers aimed at you.
• Defamation (§§ 186, 187 StGB): rumours about you meant to make you look contemptible.
• Threats (§ 241 StGB): for example announcing that they will beat you up after school.
• Humiliating images (§ 201a StGB): anyone who passes on an image of you without permission that can seriously damage your reputation may commit an offence. On top of that, your right to your own image is protected (§§ 22, 33 of the Art Copyright Act, KUG).
• Stalking (Nachstellung, § 238 StGB): if someone persistently pursues you, including across different chats. Stalking is prosecuted ex officio, meaning even without a request for prosecution.

In Germany, criminal responsibility starts at 14 (§ 19 StGB). Younger children cannot be punished. The school and parents can still step in, and WhatsApp can ban accounts. Whether a specific message is a criminal offence is for the police or a law firm to assess.

How do you save evidence from a class chat?

Before you block, report or leave the group: save first. Once you leave, you no longer see new messages. And senders can delete messages for everyone for a while.

• Screenshots of the messages showing the sender (name or number), the group name, date and time. Capture the context before and after as well.
• Group info: a screenshot of the group name, member list and, if shown, who created the group.
• Export the chat, but “without media”. WhatsApp can export a chat as a text file. You find the option in the chat menu or in the group info. Always choose “without media”. That way no photos or videos end up in the file, including ones you should not have. Labels may change with updates.
• Voice notes: do not delete them. Write down who sent them, when, and what was said.
• A log: date, what happened, who was involved. This helps especially when it goes on for weeks.

Important with nude or sexual images: do not screenshot them, save them or forward them, not even to friends or parents as “evidence”. With images of minors, you could commit an offence yourself (§§ 184b, 184c StGB). Instead, describe what was shown and note the group, sender, date and time. If such an image has landed in your gallery automatically, do not show it to anyone. Tell the police it is on your phone and ask what you should do.

General tips on screenshots and logs are in our guide to securing evidence of online hate.

How do you report and block on WhatsApp?

• Report and block a person: tap the person’s name in the group and open their profile. There you find “Report” and “Block”. When you report, WhatsApp receives some of that person’s most recent messages for review. The person is not notified that you reported them.
• Report a single message: depending on your version, you can long-press a message and report it through the menu.
• Report the group: the group info has an option to report the whole group. You can leave it at the same time.

Menu items may change with updates. Look for the words “Report” and “Block”.

Blocking has limits in groups: the person can no longer send you private messages. But you will still see what they write in a group you share.

What about the Digital Services Act? The DSA, the EU law on digital services, requires platforms to handle reports of illegal content carefully (Art. 16 DSA) and to offer an internal complaint against their decision (Art. 20 DSA). For private chats and groups in messengers, these platform rules mostly do not apply, because the content is not distributed publicly. On WhatsApp, it is mainly the Channels feature that is covered. How the complaint routes work is explained in Platform Not Responding to Your Report? DSA Complaints.

What can group admins do about bullying?

If you are an admin yourself, or you know someone who is, there are several tools:

• Delete messages for everyone: admins can remove other people’s messages for everyone, but only for a limited time after they were sent. Save them first.
• Remove members who insult or threaten others.
• Change group settings: for example, allow only admins to send messages or edit the group info. That stops a wave of messages straight away.
• Reset the invite link if strangers are joining through a shared link.
• Write down rules, for example in the group description: no insults, no photos of others without permission.

In class chats it helps if several reliable people are admins, not just one.

How do you protect yourself from new groups?

• Who can add you: in the privacy settings you can decide that only your contacts, or selected contacts, can add you to groups. Everyone else can only send you an invitation.
• Profile photo, about and online status: make them visible to contacts only.
• Do not save media automatically: turn off the option that saves photos and videos from chats to your gallery.
• Mute the group if you do not want to leave yet because of the evidence. You do not have to read every message right away.

When should you involve the police or the school?

When there are threats, humiliating images, sexual content, or when it simply does not stop. You can file a criminal complaint (Anzeige) at any police station or online through the online police station (Onlinewache) of your federal state. Insults are generally only prosecuted if a request for prosecution (Strafantrag) is filed. You have three months for this, from when you learn of the act and the offender. If you are under 18, your parents or other legal guardians can file it for you (§ 77(3) StGB).

If the bullying comes from your class, tell a teacher, a trusted liaison teacher (Vertrauenslehrkraft) or the school social worker. Many schools also act when the chat runs outside school hours, because the bullying usually continues in the classroom. How that works is explained in Cyberbullying at School: What You Can Do. For parents, there is Your Child Is Bullied Online: What Parents Can Do Now.

In acute danger? Call the police on 110. If you want to talk: the Nummer gegen Kummer helpline is on 116 111 (Monday to Saturday, 2 to 8 pm, in German), and at juuuport young people counsel young people online. The Telefonseelsorge crisis line is available around the clock on 0800 111 0 111 (in German). Parents can call the Elterntelefon on 0800 111 0 550 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9 am to 5 pm, Tuesday and Thursday 9 am to 7 pm).

Frequently asked questions

Am I allowed to export the group chat?

For your evidence, yes, as long as you only give it to the police, the school, your parents or a law firm. Do not publish it or share it in other groups. Always choose “without media”.

Will the person know that I reported them?

No, WhatsApp does not notify people who are reported. They may guess that you blocked them from certain signs, though.

The bullies are under 14. Is a criminal complaint (Anzeige) still worth it?

They cannot be punished (§ 19 StGB). A report can still make sense, for example if older people are also involved. In such cases, the school and parents are often the quicker route.

Should I leave the group?

Save first, then decide. Muting is a middle way: you stop getting notifications but you lose nothing.

You can also report it through our form. If you say yes, your report goes automatically to a suitable cooperating law firm (Kooperationskanzlei) as soon as one is available. The legal assessment comes from the law firm, not from us. If there is no suitable firm right now, you get an email with other places to turn to straight away. Deadlines keep running: you can always file a request for prosecution (Strafantrag) with the police yourself.