Can I Be Legally Protected From Harassment Via Social Media?

Just three decades ago, you could harass people through the use of phone calls. Everyone who grew up pre-cellphones remembers the occasional sleepover where you would make repetitious calls to harass people for your own enjoyment. Things have changed a whole lot over the past several decades. The introduction of the internet has made it easier for people to communicate from far away, but it has also created the ability for many people to harass one another through social media outlets.

Social media sites have completely changed the way that people keep in touch and communicate in both good ways and bad. One of the worst ways that social media can be used is for harassing someone. Online harassment is a new thing only because technology is used, but it is the same basic concept as traditional bullying or harassment – it just allows the perpetrator to hide behind the keyboard.

What is online harassment?

Sometimes referred to as cyberbullying or cyberstalking, online harassment is using technology to stalk, intimidate, or threaten someone. It doesn’t matter if it involves texting, emails, or through website or review creation; it is a way that someone can repeatedly harass you using mobile devices or technology. Unlike calling someone or showing up at their place, online harassment gives the stalker the ability to indirectly utilize personal information on the internet to instill fear, anger, or even distress in someone else.

Cyberstalking is a new phenomenon, but it’s a very prominent and serious one. It is a pattern of malicious behaviors that threaten and intimidate someone. To be considered online harassment, however, you must prove that someone is posing a threat to you or your reputation through their online behaviors.

Every state in the union has developed their own anti-stalking legislation, but since it is differs from state to state it can make prosecuting someone or stopping their behavior difficult if they aren’t in the same state as you. In some states, stopping them requires that the perpetrator be a stalker by definition – which means that they impose a threat of violence to a victim – while others only require that you prove that someone might pose a threat to your safety.

How many people are the victims of harassment via social media?

According to studies conducted by the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel, as much as 40% of those who use social media sites indicate that they have been harassed in the past. Social media is the most common way that people choose to cyberstalk or harass someone, above other forms such as text messaging or even email. People between the ages of 18 and 24 are the most likely victims of harassment on social media, and nearly 70% of those surveyed indicated that they had been the victim of one or more forms of social harassment.

What is cyberstalking?

The phenomenon of cyberstalking has come to the forefront of legal circles as people spend more of their lives on social media. Cyberstalking is how someone can harass or hurt someone via the use of the internet. It’s not just about harassing someone, either; if someone is tech- savvy enough, they can do all sorts of damaging things – hacking into someone’s personal accounts, messing with their online financials, or even ruining their reputation by setting up fake names and messing with their friends or work associations.

Cyberstalking is a serious offense but a hard one to prove, which is why it is so important to keep strict documentation about the behaviors of someone who is potentially cyber-harassing or stalking you. The good news is that if someone is engaging in stalking behaviors, whether is it physical or through the use of the internet, you do have a legal recourse to make them stop.

If you feel as if you are the victim of cyberstalking, it is important to alert the authorities. In most instances, stalking does not stop unless forced. Generally, it continues to get worse until you address and stop it, which is why you have to notify the proper authorities if you are being intimidated or threatened via social media or any other types of technology. If you want someone to stop harassing you via the internet, then you hire a harassment protection attorney to make it stop.