Cyberstalking

THE TERM cyberstalking is generally considered to refer to the act of harassing or threatening an individual through the use of the internet and electronic or computer communications. The most commonly employed communication method used in the commission of this act is e-mail. However, there is a growing belief that instant messaging is seeing an increased use in cyber stalking in the early 2000s. For a victim to prove cyberstalking, she must be capable of proving that the messages were threatening and inflicted fear upon her life.

If the message is such that a reasonably prudent person would not believe that the sender was, in fact, threatening the victim, then there is no case for alleging cyberstalking. Distinguishing between the presence of a threatening message and one that is designed to merely aggravate a recipient is not always an easy task.

This statement, however, should not be construed as indicating that multiple messages are required. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible for the first, or even only, electronic message to be considered threatening, and thereby result in the individual committing an act of cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is considered a dangerous crime because many times the stalker will transcend the virtual world and begin stalking a victim in the physical world.

In much the same manner as traditional stalkers, it is believed that many cyberstalkers select their victims by first becoming acquainted with the individual in a social setting. The major distinction between a physical-realm stalker and the stalker in cyberspace is that many times the victims and the stalkers can easily come from different locations around the world.

The very nature of cyberspace, with its anonymity and worldwide access, lends itself to the development of international victims, as well as victims of opportunity, or victims who are not acquainted with the stalker. At any given time on the internet, there are hundreds of thousands of topiccentered chat rooms in operation that allow individuals, who have never met face-to-face, to converse as if they are long-lost friends. The level of anonymity in these chat rooms has been shown to lead some individuals to make statements and commit acts they would never have considered if the discussions had taken place in the real world.

The exact extent of cyberstalking is currently unknown, as data concerning the breadth of the problem is lacking. Few victims may understand that electronic harassment is illegal, and even worse many law enforcement agencies have yet to fully[Page 239] begin investigating reports of this crime. In addition, statutes criminalizing cyberstalking have only recently been put into place, with California being one of the first states to criminalize the behavior, and several states yet to criminalize electronic harassment and stalking.

Further, federal statutes have been criticized for their failure to account for situations in which cyberstalkers post misleading information about a victim, and then use unknowing individuals to assist in the harassment of a victim. There is hope for future research concerning this issue, as more law enforcement agencies have begun to seriously investigate the crime and an improvement in the current records are sure to create valuable research opportunities.

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