What is cyberstalking?

What is cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking refers to using the internet, e-mail or other telecommunication technologies to harass or stalk another person. Cyberstalkers often aim to intimidate victims or make their lives unbearable through methodical and persistent actions.

Essentially, cyberstalking is an extension of the physical form of stalking and can take many forms including:

• Using GPS tools to track someone’s physical location without their permission.
• Creating websites about the victim that contain threatening or harassing messages or provocative or pornographic photographs.
• Following a victim’s social footprints to monitor what they post and their physical location.
• Hacking into someone’s webcam to spy on them.
• Installing spyware on someone’s phone or device to eavesdrop on their electronic communications or steal sensitive data.
• Sending harassing messages (sometimes forged in the victim’s name) through e-mail or text message to the victim or the victim’s employers, co-workers, students, teachers, customers, friends or family.
• Attempting to destroy the victim’s reputation by engaging in “cyber-smearing” by sending or posting false or embarrassing intimate information about someone.
• Sending viruses to the victim’s computer.
• Encouraging others to harass the victim.
• Constructing a new identity to entice the target to unknowingly befriend the perpetrator.

What charges may offenders face?

According to A Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecutors on Criminal Harassment published by the federal government, cyberstalking is a form of criminal harassment. It notes that “criminal harassment often consists of repeated conduct that is carried out over a period of time and that causes its targets to reasonably fear for their safety but does not necessarily result in physical injury. It may be a precursor to subsequent violent and/or lethal acts.”

The handbook adds that “in some cyber-stalking situations, criminal harassment charges may be appropriate. It adds that “depending on the activity involved, charges under the following sections of the Criminal Code could also be considered: voyeurism, distribution of child pornography, internet luring, counselling suicide, defamation, wilful promotion of hatred, extortion, unauthorized use of a computer, conveying false messages, intimidation, mischief in relation to data, identify theft and identity fraud.

What are the penalties of cyberstalking?

Those accused of cyberstalking are often charged with criminal harassment. If that charge is treated as an indictable offence, the maximum prison sentence is 10 years.

If the cyberstalking includes the distribution of child pornography, the maximum sentence rises to 14 years in prison.

With less serious cases, the judge may issue a peace bond. These court orders last up to 12 months with conditions that can include offender being restricted from contacting the victim or their family in person or online. If it can be shown the offender is not abiding by the terms imposed, they could be sent to jail.

Who are stalkers?

According to the federal handbook, stalking “is highly personal, bound up in the relationship between the perpetrator and victim. Indeed, in a very real sense, the relationship is the violence; perpetrators attempt to establish or maintain a relationship – whether amorous or angry – against the victims’ wishes.”

While there have been some high-profile reports of celebrities being stalked, the handbook notes that “most targets of harassment are ordinary people.”

It adds that “on its own, the individual conduct that makes up criminal harassment often appears innocent and harmless. The simple act of sending a dozen roses to a woman on Valentine’s Day seems romantic to many people. However, to a woman who has been abused by the sender and has attempted to keep her location secret from him, it can be a terrifying message that he knows where she is and that she cannot escape him.”

The handbook explains that people who stalk others are engaging in obsessive behaviour, “in the sense that they have persistent thoughts and ideas regarding the victim … many have prior criminal, psychiatric and drug abuse histories.”

Who is being cyberstalked?

Both men and women can be victims of cyberstalking, according to a report from Statistics Canada. It found:
Women were more likely to report having been cyberstalked (eight per cent) than men (less than six per cent).

The prevalence of cyberstalking was higher among younger women and men. For instance, 14 per cent of women aged 15 to 24 were cyberstalked compared with seven per cent of women aged 45 to 54. Similarly, nine per cent of men aged 15 to 24 reported being cyberstalked compared with four per cent of their male peers.

Women who were cyberstalked had a lower probability than those who were not cyberstalked to report that their mental health was “very good” or “excellent” (67 per cent versus 74 per cent).

Men who were cyberstalked also had a lower probability to report that their mental health was “very good” or “excellent” (70 per cent versus 75 per cent).

What is criminal harassment?

According to the federal report, Stalking is a Crime Called Criminal Harassment, stalking and harassment have long existed but the charge of "criminal harassment" was only created in 1993. Until that point, police would charge a person with an offence such as trespassing at night, loitering or uttering threats.

It adds that the criminal harassment legislation is a “response to the increasing violence against women, especially women leaving a marriage or intimate relationship.”

It adds that about 88 per cent of victims of this crime are harassed by an ex-partner or ex-spouse, an acquaintance, a co-worker or a close friend.

“Although anyone can be a victim of criminal harassment … eight out of 10 victims are women, and nine out of 10 stalkers are men,” the report states.

Contact me for assistance

The evidence police gather to prove internet crimes can often be complex and technical. As your lawyer, I can examine and perhaps challenge the validity of the electronic documentation and ensure your privacy rights are protected. Contact me for a free consultation in French or English.