What is "happy slapping"

n. (context informal English) The practice of physically attacking (originally, slapping), and often verbally abusing, a person and photographing or filming the attack using a camera phone, the recording sometimes being sent to others to further humiliate the victim.

Happy slapping is a fad originating in the UK in which one or more people attack a victim for the purpose of recording the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone). Though the term usually refers to relatively minor acts of violence such as hitting or slapping the victim, more serious crimes such as the manslaughter of a pensioner and sexual assault have been classified as "happy slapping" by the BBC.

Happy Slapping is a 2013 Canadian drama film about disaffected youths, teen angst and bullying. Its title is derived from the “ happy slapping” fad which began in Britain where teens assault strangers on the street, film the encounters on their smartphones and circulate them on mobile phones or post them on user-generated websites. Filmed in Montreal, the film was written and directed by Christos Sourligas and co-written by Andrew Farrar (aka Annakin Slayd) and was shot by the actors on iPhones making it the world’s first feature film shot entirely on smartphones.