Legal Protection for Cyberbullying Victims: A Comparative Study of Jinayah Perspective and Positive Law

Cyberbullying has become a serious social and legal issue in the digital era, causing significant psychological, social, and moral harm to its victims. This research aims to analyze the legal protection of cyberbullying victims from two perspectives: Indonesian Positive Law and Islamic criminal law (Jinayah). The study adopts a qualitative normative legal research method, utilizing statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches supported by literature review and case analysis. The results show that Positive Law, particularly through the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law, the Criminal Code (KUHP), and the Child Protection Law, provides a codified framework to criminalize acts of online harassment, defamation, and threats. However, its focus on punitive sanctions often neglects the holistic recovery of victims. In contrast, the Jinayah perspective addresses cyberbullying through prohibitions against qadhf (false accusation), ghibah (backbiting), namimah (slander), and other offenses under ta’zir, guided by the principle of protecting human dignity (ḥifẓ al-‘ird) within maqasid al-shariah. While Positive Law ensures legal certainty, Jinayah emphasizes restorative justice, reconciliation, and moral accountability. A comparative analysis reveals that neither system alone provides comprehensive protection for victims. Therefore, this research recommends integrating Positive Law’s procedural clarity with the restorative justice elements of Jinayah to establish a more holistic framework for victim protection. Such harmonization requires collaboration among government institutions, religious authorities, educational institutions, and society. This research contributes theoretically by enriching comparative legal studies between Positive Law and Jinayah, practically by offering policy recommendations for improving victim protection mechanisms, and socially by raising awareness about the seriousness of cyberbullying and the importance of safeguarding victims’ rights in both national and religious contexts.