Internet harassment laws make it a criminal act to use the Internet to threaten, torment, stalk, intimidate or otherwise distress a person. Legislation and enforcement varies from one jurisdiction to another, but Internet harassment laws are put in place to protect potential victims from the trauma of cyberstalking, cyberbullying and other forms of internet harassment. In some regions, provisions have been made within broader harassment laws specifically relating to the Internet and other forms of communication.
Legal definitions of Internet harassment vary slightly from one region to another, but most jurisdictions agree on the basic principles. Internet harassment is an attempt to use email or another form of electronic communication to torment, threaten, stalk or perform some similar act that would cause distress to a reasonable person. When determining the difference between simple rudeness and criminal harassment, authorities are likely to consider issues such as the attacker’s apparent intent, the frequency of the remarks or postings, evidence of premeditation or information gathering, whether others were encouraged to participate in these acts and whether remarks or attacks were directed specifically at the victim.
For those found guilty, the penalties for violating Internet harassment laws depend on the severity of the attacks and the jurisdiction. Harassment convictions can result in fines, community service or a prison sentence. If the victim made previous attempts to make the attacker stop, or if the attacker engaged in other illegal activities such as hacking to harass the victim, sentencing is likely to be harsher.
Before 1990, there was little that could be done legally to deter harassment in any form, whether through the new internet, over the phone, or even in person. California was the first state in the United States to pass anti-stalking legislation, with other states passing similar laws in the following years. These laws, written long before the days of text messaging and social media websites, were designed primarily to prevent predatory stalking.
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Communications Decency Act. This act, originally written to protect the public from harassing phone calls, was rephrased to include any telecommunications device. Although some other clauses of this act were found unconstitutional because of an infringement of free speech, the articles on Internet harassment were not challenged.
Even with the Communications Decency Act, most anti-harassment legislation is done at the state level. California was first to address cyberstalking in 1999, and many other states have passed specific Internet harassment laws. Still others have made provisions in existing anti-harassment laws to deal with Internet communications.
Other countries have passed Internet harassment laws as well. For instance, the British Parliament passed the Malicious Communications Act in 1998. International cooperation has been effective in addressing other forms of Internet-based crime, but issues surrounding jurisdiction remain problematic with the Internet, because even the way the crime is defined by various Internet harassment laws can vary greatly.
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anon266669
Post 11 |
@jeancastle00: Strengthen these crazy laws? That's plain silly. If you have a problem, change your email, phone. Block their email or phone number. Simple. Involving the legal system is not the way to solve things!
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anon266667
Post 10 |
These "cyber stalking" laws are way too broad! The Courts are crazy and have no common sense when they get involved. I was arrested in Maryland for stalking my ex-fiance who moved to Colorado last August (2011). We were together for three years. She cheated on me in 2009, we broke up, got back together and moved into a house together. However, life was stressful, due to her financial problems and medical issues with her son of 14. Her house went into foreclosure, and she had to move out. We were not getting along. Her only real option was to move back to Colorado, where she grew up and had family. The week before she was to move, I found out that she had been talking to an old high school boyfriend, who flew out to Maryland after not seeing her in years, to help her move back. I found out she had been communicating with him for months, even when we were still together. I texted/emailed/phoned her as she was moving back to Colorado, telling her I now knew what she was doing and how long she had been lying behind my back. I texted the boyfriend, letting him know what she had done, and what she did back in 2009. No threats, just telling her/him point blank what I thought of them. Well, she walked into a police station in Colorado and filed a complaint. I was arrested in Maryland, sat over two weeks in jail without bail and awaited extradition to Colorado. When I got to Colorado, I sat in jail for another month. My bail was set at $50,000 by the District! I got it reduced at a bail hearing to $20k and bailed out. I got two felony charges: 1. Stalking, credible threat. 2. Stalking, emotional distress. I had a jury trial and spent over $10k on a bad defense attorney and plane flights. I was found guilty by the jury. They allowed all our nasty emails/texts from 2009 into the trial, even though she moved in with me for the next year after that! I totally rebuilt her kitchen in her house. I fixed up her house so she could have a chance to sell or rent it. I spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours helping her and her son who has Cystic Hygroma. I was totally used and then made into the bad guy for calling her out. While in jail, I was evicted and lost everything. I was previously married for 24 years, and never any domestic violence in my past. I have a BS in Physics and Secret Clearance. Now I will never work again in my field. I'm 61 and I have no income, no home, no assets. I survive off the kindness of a few friends. I'm destroyed. She just didn't want me telling the new boyfriend or her parents about what she had done. My suggestion: Never text/email/phone your mate if you can avoid it. At the first sign that she/he lacks loyalty or character, leave them. If they ever call the cops on you, run from them and change your contact info. I get sentenced in June 2012. These laws and the court system do more harm to the accused than any good to most of those who plot to use the laws against you. They are unconstitutional as they claim jurisdiction over anyone, anywhere. The Sixth Amendment says venue should be where the defendant resides or the crime was committed, and not for the convenience of the prosecution. If arrested in another state, don't let them extradite you! |
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flipside
Post 9 |
Well, I have a story from the other side of the equation, where these all-encompassing vague texting laws have literally destroyed my first year of medical school, and the best part is, I may not be found guilty, yet the trial has taken seven months so far. Did you all realize that it is harassment to send someone non-threatening text messages repeatedly without response, even if it's a boyfriend, and even if it's an ordinary happening in your relationship? After he says to leave him alone, that's it. That's all it takes and any texts thereafter are considered enough to file criminal charges. And so, he did. He filed charges and I was arrested and held in jail. In my situation, I found out that this guy was lying to me for months and sleeping around (yes, I know typical, right?) Well, when I let him know that I discovered that this girl who was supposedly his crazy stalker, the girl he begged me to tell off (and I wouldn't), was actually the girl he was bating to sleep with (she was a virgin). I asked him to speak with me in private, I texted him, and his response was not typical. Instead, he said "yeah so, I lied all along, now leave me alone." Most people show some sort of remorse or acknowledgement but no, he was more concerned with me spreading the truth and ruining his squeaky clean reputation at the medical school. Turns out he had a coach in all of this -- his father -- who, ironically, also had a sexual harassment case against him in medical school. It was revealed in the text messages that were taken with the police report that his father carefully instructed him, however the stupid police software didn't uncover all of the texts so there are gaps in the conversation that can't be uncovered. Still, it is not against the law for his dad to instruct him. And this creep has a history with multiple cases at his undergrad, but since he attacked me first, all of that is irrelevant. I have had a laundry list of service awards and achievements, not a dent in my criminal record, and despite having tried to interview multiple classmates, not a single negative thing could be said about me, yet I am still a criminal. I'm 5'0 tall 110 pounds, and this guy was a college football player, but he's claiming to feel threatened by me with absolutely no legitimate claims, yet he's so charming that everyone is buying into him. It comes down to the stupid black or white law: did I text him after he told me not to? Yes. The end. Guilty of a first degree misdemeanor. I'm ready to take this one to the papers. What a waste of hard earned tax dollars! I'm not advocating a total dismissal of policy, but the text should at least have to be threatening! If the phones have the ability to block the number, there should be some rule about using that first to prevent people from intentionally baiting others for one reason or another. That or the texting harrassment should be a misdemeanor until there is more education about the law. |
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anon262212
Post 7 |
@ronburg44: You obviously haven't ever been a bully victim or seen the news or heard stories, researched statistics, or the lifetime of emotional distress bullying whether it is at school or online. Some laws are needed to protect us and then we have others that are ridiculous (such as the text harassment law - way too vague) but I'm not going to insult you. But I am going to tell you flat out that you are wrong. My daughter was being bullied at school and it got so bad she was afraid to go one morning and cried so finally, after months of trying to talk to the principal, I sent a furious email and got them to do something. Still, she is going to a private school next year where the kids are not pure evil and she will receive a proper education. Bullying is anything but harmless. And standing up to a bully is what a bully wants because it is their game. They want to fight. |
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anon253888
Post 6 |
Somehow a site (I think it's called "sharkhunters" or some such) got my name and email address. Apparently, they harvest the names off of a member's emails. For example, someone lists about 20 "friends" on copy and they enroll every one of them. All of a sudden I'm getting their email which is pro World War II, and nazi Germany, among other things. I tried to unsubscribe and they sent back an insulting note about not being good enough for the site, etc. I responded (a mistake) explaining that I had not signed on and just wanted off. This went back and forth until finally, they blurted out that when I sign or submit an answer to them I should have known that they would just re-register me every time. Then I respond and then they put me back on with really insulting messages. I'm a bit ticked off at them so I'm reporting them. They apparently think it's cute to goad you into responding and then back you go onto their site with three or four stupid emails each day. It's mostly selling Cd's of interviews with nazis, etc. --G.R.D. |
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anon205805
Post 5 |
where can I file a complaint? My harasser is from the U.S. and I am from a third-world country. |
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anon124992
Post 4 |
Internet harassment must be taken seriously. i say this because my 14 year old daughter is going though this as we speak. This situation started at school, but now it has led to the internet. i believe there should be stronger laws. In this world today, we need to stop situations like this. Teens today have it a lot worse than we were growing up. I also think parents should be more involved and watch what their child is doing on the computer, because someday their child my be the one who is being bullied. --vic66 |
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anon124106
Post 3 |
ronburg44: I understand where you are coming from, but in this day and age where anyone can be arrested or sued for defending themselves, these laws are necessary. It is unfortunate that we need to keep coming up with new laws for what seems to be menial issues. But, if you look at how screwed up people are today, I can't help but wonder why these laws were not in effect many many years ago. |
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ronburg44
Post 2 |
I personally think the Internet bullying and harassment is not that big of a deal. People who are susceptible to bullying are going to be susceptible to weather on the Internet or at school. Simply put, these people are we a need to learn how to be strong and stand up to other individuals that are harassing them. We don't need to enact more laws to deal with common social problems such as this. We as society simply need to recognize when people are having to heart of an issue with another person's income to that person's side.
Adding more laws to our ordering complicated ecosystem and tighten up more of our courts with complicated harassment suits that are hard for judges to decide and difficult for juries to comprehend just means more bureaucracy and more inefficiency in our nation's justice system. |
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jeancastle00
Post 1 |
Internet harassment has simply gotten out of hand today in this age. What used to be some harmless commenting on bulletin boards has now become full-fledged bullying on social networking sites. The epidemic of suicides is now resulted from this intimidation have both school and now infiltrating the personalized home of individuals and students has become a massive problem the way we deal with Internet harassment.
These problems are not to go away without intervention and we need to strengthen our Internet draft laws to ensure that people are saved from bullying. There needs to be strong laws on the books that prosecutors are able to bring justice to the victims of harassment. Just because something is on the Internet doesn't mean that it's not real as a lot of times the bullying spreads from one to the other. |
