Introduction How we communication is in a liquid state and has become easier to communicate to our friends, circle of influences and the mass audiences. Social media portals like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and other sites, allow people from around the world to express their thoughts and ideas in real time and with a simple click its out there. For the most of the masses, the Internet is an amazing tool to exchange engaging dialog and express their freedom of expression in humanity. Unfortunately, as the majority of society is using their First Amendment rights in a non-malicious activity, there are those who choose to use it as a tool to intimidate and threaten others. Many argue that and challenge First Amendment platform as a …show more content…
Lastly, Catalano wrote that 75 percent of the victims knew their offender. (Catalano 2012) This paper will research the Federal code in place to protect the populous and compare it to that of the state statutes of Illinois -- my home state. Thesis Cyber stalking and harassment is a serious, unlawful activity by the federal government, all 50 states and U.S. territories. Although the definition of stalking differs between the federal and state jurisdictions, all have created criminal law to address cyber stalking and harassment. According to the DOJ report, state laws do vary in regards to the element of victim fear and emotional distress. (Catalano, 2012) The report said some states required victims must have been frighten by the act of stalking, while other states require a reasonable person to experience fear. At the federal level, 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) makes cyber stalking and harassment a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. The federal statue said it’s unlawful to transmit any communication in interstate or foreign commerce containing a threat to injure the person of another. Additionally, Section 875(c) prohibits the actual transmission of a threat. In 2011, Illinois statue (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3) defined stalking as: “person commits stalking when he or she knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that this course of
Stalking has been a label for a long-term pattern of persistent pursuit and intrusive behavior directed by one person toward another (Logan & Cole, 2007). It is a term that has been around since
Before delving into the main points, the definition of stalking must be outlined. According to Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, in their study of the National Violence Against Women Survey, “Stalking generally refers to harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a per son 's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person 's property. These actions may or
Cyber stalking laws normally classify cyber stalking as a misdemeanor offense. However, a main issue in any cyber stalking case has been proving identity since, most people do not use their real identities while communicating on the internet (Followill, 2015). In this case, the defendant is known which should help the prosecution pursue charges more speedily.
California’s prohibition against cyberstalking is part of its general stalking law, Penal Code Section 646.9, which makes it a crime to, among
Cyberharassment. Cyberharassment differs from cyberstalking in that it may generally be defined as not involving a credible threat. Cyberharassment usually pertains to threatening or harassing email messages, instant messages, or to blog entries or websites dedicated solely to tormenting an individual. Some states approach cyberharrassment by including language addressing electronic communications in general harassment statutes, while others have created stand-alone cyberharassment statutes.
The following article is both interesting and informative when it comes to the final paper product as it deals specifically with laws against stalking; the following research examines and evaluates the anti-stalking laws in place around the United States along with their effectiveness. Richard A. Lingg compares the other set of the anti-stalking statutes around the country with that of California, one of the first states to enact stalking laws and make it a punishable offense in the 90’s, in doing so he spilt the laws into two groups; one where other states have adopted California’s law with no modifications and the other is roughly based on the original law but has a broader range. The original California law and the states that adopted it
Stalking is a terrifying and potentially lethal crime that seems to be on the rise in recent years. While the act itself can be displayed in a variety of ways with many different motivations, the effects on the victims always result in some sort of fear, anxiety, and paranoia among others, along with crippling the victim financially. The media portrayal of stalking can lead to misconceptions about the crime and minizations of the behavior by the general public can lead to a secondary victimization and cause the crime to go unreported. Although anti-stalking laws exist they vary from state to state and may not always provide the adequate of protection, even a person convicted of stalking will only serve a year or less in prison if no other charges
Stalking is considered a form of abusive behavior within domestic violence because of the danger the victim faces even after leaving an abusive relationship. Many victims of domestic violence have seemed to experience stalking behavior form their current or previous intimate relationship partner. Examples of stalking include: sending gifts or notes that are not wanted, repeated phone calls or showing up at the victims work place, and other way stalkers may invade in a victim’s life. The stalker might become more frequent when he or she tries to gain that control they once had or even gain more control over the victim, some of which the stalkers actions may come from the loss of the previous relationship. Most stalkers behavior may escalate and can lead to threats or can result in physical violence. All 50 states today have implied an anti-stalking law that protects orders against victims. Also, not all states treat stalking as a felony, most first offence stalking charges are misdemeanor, after the third offence that person can be charged with a
Another form of harassment is cyberstalking. So what is cyberstalking? As Naomi Goodno (2007) wrote,” While there is not a universally accepted definition, cyberstalking involves the use of the Internet, e-mail, or other means of electronic communication to stalk or harass another individual.” (pg.129) Jealousy is reason for people in relationships to cyberstalk one another. “The ensuing jealousy manifests as a need for reducing uncertainty by gathering information about the external threat.” (pg. 708) (2010, Tokunaga) Facebook is a good example of an easy way to stalk. “Facebook intrusion was related to relationship dissatisfaction, and cognitive jealousy and surveillance behaviors were linked to relationship dissatisfaction.” (pg.633) (2011,
When an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassment or cyberstalking, a crime that can have legal consequences and involve jail time.This includes email, instant messaging, social networking sites (such as Facebook), text messages, and cell
They may set up their own websites, blogs or user pages for this purpose. Many cyber stalkers try to involve third parties in the harassment. They may claim the victim has harmed the stalker or his/her family in some way, or may post the victim's name and telephone number in order to encourage others to join the pursuit. They post allegations about the victim to newsgroups, chat rooms, or other sites that allow public contributions. Young people face a particularly high risk of having cyber stalkers try to set up meetings between them. Victims who are cyber bullied or cyber stalked are usually bullied in real life. Cyber bullying or cyber stalking can happen twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and reach a person even when he or she is alone. It can happen any time of the day or night. Cyber bullying or cyber stalking messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to a very wide audience. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the source. Cyber bullies and cyber stalkers have no remorse for their actions. The emotional outcome is similar to those of real life bulling. For cyber bullying and cyber stalking there is no escape, it never ends, and it gets
Cyber stalking is an actionable crime as defined in 18 USC Section 875, a federal law on interstate communications, and it reads:
is the form of using technology such as computers, mobiles, internet and other networks for stalking an individual. The criminals who use cyberstalking are called as Cyber stalkers. They use email, messages, phone calls and other communication devices to stalk and victimize people. Cyberstalking cases have been increasing these days and most people are not aware of this. Some of the most common cyberstalking comes from many forms and the most common tactics used are threatening, harassing or sending manipulative emails out from various accounts and hacking on the personal information and gaining access to the victim’s personal records or accounts. The recent records
In the United States, there are currently more than 85 million adults and around 10 million children with access to the Internet from a North America investigation web site fact. With these numbers you can understand why cyber stalking is so common these days more than ever. With the emergence of technology, computer crime has been increasing at rapid rate. The first type of computer crime that has the potential to cause high levels of distress and damage is cyberstalking. Cyberstalking can be defined as using the Internet or other electronic means to harass, intimidate, threaten, monitor or make unwanted advances towards another people. It can involve direct communications through e-mails, chat rooms sites, bulletin boards or social sites such as twitter, snapchat and Instagram.
Cyberstalking has become very popular in the world we live in today. Cyberstalking is unfortunately happening every day to a lot to the men and women of our society of various ways through the internet. 18 U.S. Code Section 2261A: Stalking is the law that is broken on a regular basis. Understanding that this law can be hard to understand. Defined by one of the many definitions from the FindLaw website as “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person in another State or tribal jurisdiction or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States; (iii) a spouse or intimate partner of that