When Your Online Presence Becomes a Legal Issue
It’s common for people to like, comment, or share content on social media, but when does this behavior cross the line into cyberstalking? If someone repeatedly interacts with your posts in a negative or intrusive manner, especially if you’ve explicitly told them to stop, it could be cyberstalking.
The Impact of Social Media on Stalking Cases
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit can act as breeding grounds for stalkers. What makes them particularly dangerous is that they allow stalkers to engage in repeated behavior without facing immediate consequences. Whether it’s through direct messages, threatening comments, or trolling, the emotional toll this takes on the victim can be profound.
What Counts as Harassment Online?
In some cases, stalking and harassment can overlap. Posting degrading or threatening comments on a person’s social media page can be considered harassment, especially when it’s done with the intent to alarm or distress the victim. What’s important here is the intent behind the contact, if it’s meant to cause emotional harm, it could very well be harassment.
Defining Repeated Contact
It’s the repeated nature of online contact that turns harmless interactions into harmful ones. If the person continues to engage with you despite being told to stop, the situation may escalate into stalking. A key element here is the credibility of the threat and the serious emotional distress caused by these actions.
If You Have Been Charged With Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking is a serious crime and as such it is taken very seriously by law enforcement, so much so that it can often be weaponized by people who are angry and looking to lash out, such as in the case of a nasty divorce, or a bad breakup. When this is the case behavior that would reasonably be accepted comes under scrutiny and individuals may end up charged with cyberstalking. If you have been charged with online harassment we invite you to reach out to a cyberstalking defense lawyer at the Law Office of Rodemer | Kane. We have years of getting to the truth of a situation and fighting to protect the rights of our clients.