## 1 Introduction  
Social networking platforms play a seamless and intact role in the contemporary digitized world [1]. The prevalence of information and communication technologies has escalated to the extent that approximately more than half of the human population has a social identity, cumulatively making up more than 3.6 billion people using social media [2]. This immense user base makes these sites a global discussion forum and an effective tool for the exchange of information, textual communication, collaboration, and sharing of knowledge and ideas. The social network equipment creates a global communication hub among numerous communities and cultures for pruning distances and allowing free speech without borders. Since more voices are empowered and shared, this could serve as myriad benefits to society [3]. Undeniably, on the positive side, it provides convenience and promotes global unity, but on the darker side, it has also been reported to widely spread cybercrime and cyberhate [2]. Researchers and scholars worldwide have highlighted the possible perils, hate speech, and cyberbullying dissemination [4]. Cyberbullying (synonymously known as cyber-harassment, cyber-aggression, and hate speech) is an aggressive, intentional act (such as sending unwanted, derogatory, threatening, offensive, embarrassing, or hurtful messages/comments) carried out by a group or individual using digital technologies against a victim who cannot easily protect him or herself\" [5]. The United Nations defines the term as follows:  
\"any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language concerning a person or a group based on who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or another identity factor\" [6]. Cyberbullying is a kind of violence accomplished using various electronic forms to threaten an individual's physical or mental well-being, thus inducing emotional, behavioral, and psychological disorders among its victims. Research studies reported cyberbullying victims to have higher levels of depression, poor self-esteem, and increased social anxiety [7]. The speech freedom feature offered by social platforms has posed risks in numerous ways and is misused by immoral users to elevate hate speech and abusive content. Though, to an extent, adults can manage this peril, children and teenagers are more susceptible to serious mental health issues [8]. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic is a double-edged sword [9]. The pandemic caused a considerable surge in online traffic. The drastic shifts in lifestyles and adaptation of new social practices and habits resulted in an upsurge in cyberbullying cases. A report, \"COVID-19 and Cyber Harassment\" by Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) Pakistan in 2020, highlights a considerable upward shift in cyberbullying and harassment incidents during the COVID-19 epidemic. The complaints registered with DRF's Cyber Harassment cell were escalated by 189% [10]. This distressing problem of automatic cyberbullying detection, associated with social and ethical challenges, has gained huge research attention in natural language processing and artificial intelligence. Not only is it onerous, but since social networks have become a vital part of individuals' lives and the consequences of cyberbullying can be appalling, specifically among adolescents, it is also a relevant need [11]. The growing interest of the research community is evident from the recent workshops on cyber social threats such as cySoc 2022, TRAC, and WOAH 2022. Though many social media platforms have established policies for the moderation of the content and blocking or restricting the hateful content, due to the massive scale of generated big data, we need automated data analytic techniques and proactive systems to critically and rigorously investigate cyberbullying and toxic content in real-time.