Online Harassment: What it is and How to Protect Yourself
Online harassment involves the use of digital platforms to threaten, humiliate, or intimidate others. It’s commonly seen on platforms such as social media.
Being the victim of online harassment can result in severe emotional distress, stress, anxiety, and depression. However, it can be challenging to know how to report it and make it stop.
Read the rest of this article to learn more about online harassment, such as its common types, how you should deal with it, and when to consult a lawyer for assistance with an online harassment case.
What are the Different Types of Online Harassment?
Online harassment can take various forms, such as the following:
- Cyberstalking. This is when someone constantly tracks or monitors another person online, such as by appearing online when the other person logs in and sending them unwanted messages.
- Doxing. One person publishes private and personal information without the other person’s consent.
- Trolling. Someone targets another person by posting upsetting and offensive messages about them.
- Dogpiling. Instead of one person, a group of people target someone with abusive or harassing messages.
- Fraping. This is when someone logs into another’s social media account to post inappropriate or offensive content under their name or profile.
What Should You Do if You’re a Victim of Online Harassment?
If you’ve been targeted by online harassment, it’s important to take action so that you protect yourself. Here are some things you should do.
Strengthen Your Online Security
You can protect yourself online by blocking the person who is harassing you, changing your passwords, and making your accounts as private as possible so that people have less access to your personal information and whereabouts.
Keep a Record of Everything
You should keep a record of all interactions, such as screenshots of their offensive messages. Try to get more information about the person, such as email addresses or social media accounts. These will help you if you need to take legal action against them.
Make sure you get copies of everything before you block online accounts or the other person deletes the messages.
Report the Harassment
There are various ways in which you can report online harassment. On social media platforms, there are usually channels where you can report harassment and have offensive posts taken down, such as if the content is abusive or intimidating.
You can also report the harassment to the authorities if it involves a crime, such as that it contains threats of violence, sexually explicit messages, privacy violations (such as if the person is taking photos of you in a place where you should expect privacy), and stalking or hate crimes.
Avoid Contacting the Offender
Although it can be tempting to tell the offender to stop or engage in arguments with them, this can make their behavior worse. It can also cause them to delete their messages or other online activity, removing evidence that can help you when reporting the incidents to the police.
When Should You Contact a Lawyer for Online Harassment?
You don’t always need to contact a lawyer for online harassment, such as if you’ve reported them on the platform where they have been attacking you and this has made them stop.
However, there are instances when it’s worth contacting a lawyer for help. This includes if the online harassment is persistent and ongoing, it involves threats to your safety, and it’s damaging your reputation.
Similarly, it’s good to seek help from a lawyer if the offender is ignoring your attempts at stopping their behavior, such as if you reported the harassment but they are finding other ways to harass you.
What Can a Lawyer Do to Help You?
A lawyer will help you explore your legal options to deal with the harasser. Here are some to consider.
- Restraining order. A lawyer can help you to petition the court for a restraining order if you are in danger.
- Suing the offender. Your lawyer might consider suing the offender if the harassment is highly damaging, such as if the person is putting fake information about you online, which is defamation; or if they are exposing your private details online, which is an invasion of privacy. In such cases, your lawyer might suggest suing them for damages in civil court.
- Formal takedowns. A lawyer can send the platform where the online harassment is occurring a legal demand telling them to remove the offensive activity or messages.
- Cease and desist letters. A lawyer will draft a cease and desist letter and send it to the offender, telling them that they need to stop their harmful behavior.
Here are other things that a lawyer can help you with:
- They’ll help you gather the appropriate evidence against the offender that will hold up in court. This serves to build your case.
- They’ll consider all state laws that can help you to strengthen your position.
- They’ll help you assess the severity of the harassment and your risk.
- They’ll guide you on how to communicate online or in response to the person’s threats so that you avoid legal issues.
- They might be able to negotiate with the other person to stop the behavior.
- Depending on the situation, they might suggest mediation to resolve the issue outside of court, which will save you time and money.
- They’ll represent you in court if other strategies don’t work.
Do you need a lawyer for online harassment?
If you need a lawyer for help with online harassment, you should contact a lawyer on ContractsCounsel, an online legal network that connects clients to reliable, experienced lawyers who have been vetted on the platform.
All lawyers on the network have extensive legal expertise and experience to help your specific case, explore your options, and find solutions to help you take charge of the situation so you can stop the offender’s harmful behavior.
