How to Stop Cyber Harassment

With the increase in Internet and social media usage, cyber harassment is on the rise and scarier than ever. If you’re in a situation that threatens your security and can drastically affect your mental health, it can be challenging to know what to do. It is important to know how to identify and report instances of online harassment and how to stop it from continuing. In this article, learn what cyber harassment is and how you can try to stop it from sincerely affecting you.

What is cyber harassment?

Harassment is defined as a pattern of repeated behavior done with the intention of intimidating, scaring, harming, angering or shaming an individual. The term IP abuse serves as a blanket term to describe any kind of cyber harassment, online harassment, or cyberstalking. IP abuse is when those threatening actions occur online through a kind of electronic communication, social media platform or text message service - essentially, when it occurs through any medium that involves an IP address.

A victim of cyber harassment

Cyber harassment can take the form of blackmail, sexual harassment, or bullying online. This can include posting untrue or defamatory comments with the intent to damage an individual’s reputation or image, posting private images, sending threatening messages or impersonating someone. Any of those actions completely warrant reporting a user online.

Some less threatening forms of IP abuse and cyber harassment can include receiving repeated spam messages from the same email, receiving repeated text messages from unrecognized phone numbers, your computer deleting files without your permission, and your computer being slow and crashing frequently or struggling to access the Internet or specific websites.

What to do if you're being cyberstalked

Cyberstalking is a criminal offense under U.S. anti-stalking, slander, and harassment laws. Therefore, you're well within your rights to take action. If you are experiencing online harassment from an anonymous person or group of people, before reporting, you should first review all your login information on all online accounts to ensure your cyber security. Utilizing the two-factor authentication processes whenever available will help you keep yourself safe from harassers or hackers as well.

After securing your information, victims of any kind of IP abuse should consider taking the following steps to know how to stop online harassment:

  • Send a warning. Send the harasser only one, clear message stating they should not contact you again. If the cyber harassment continues and the harasser responds again after your warning message, do not answer.
  • Print out receipts. Print out anything that qualifies as evidence in the event that you take the situation to authorities. This includes screenshots, emails, text messages or social media posts.
  • Report the stalker. Report the stalker to the site or message service.
  • Contact law enforcement. If the harasser still does not stop, contact the police.
  • Block the cyber harasser. Make sure you block them on all platforms; however they can reach you, cut off access.
  • Change your account information. If necessary, change your profile picture and your email address connected to social media accounts. You can also change your username to deter the harasser from contacting you via a different account.
  • Refrain from posting personal information. Avoid posting information such as location, age, workplace, school or phone number and stay as anonymous as possible to lower the risk of cyber harassment.

What to know when reporting

When you report the harassment, first report it to the group or platform where the harassment occurred. For example, if you're being cyberstalked on Instagram, report it to the Instagram platform. However, if the harassment continues, or it elevates and the person tries to physically find you, take additional steps. Reach out to local law enforcement authorities for advisement on next steps.

How do you report IP abuse?

When reporting IP abuse, there are a few steps to the process of how to report online harassment.

Victims of cyber harassment can report the situation to www.ftc.gov or call 1-877-FCT-HELP (1-877-382-4357). Victims could also contact the National Center for Victims of Crime Helpline or the Stalking Resource Center for Victims of Crime Helpline at 800-394-2255.

If you encounter social media harassment, it is also important to report the individual or group to the social media company or social network on which it took place. The actions likely violate their community guidelines. Find contact information for the appropriate party in the Help Center for the social media platform that you're experiencing harassment on.

What can law enforcement do about cyber harassment?

There are a number of state and federal laws prohibiting online harassment or cyberstalking.

The Combat Online Predators Act was enacted in December of 2020. It placed protections around minors who are victims of online stalking. It also increased the penalties for those convicted of stalking minors to up to five years of prison time.

Reporting instances of cyberstalking of a minor should go to the police. Report them to authorities as soon as they are detected.

For cases involving adults, the police can assist victims if the harasser has accessed and published personal or sensitive images of them without consent, has sent them truly threatening messages that include a time, day or location of that threat to take place, or if they have violated state or federal stalking laws.

If law enforcement can't help the cyber harassment situation, there are other legal actions victims can take. You can file a restraining order on the harasser, forcing them to keep a distance from you and your property. A victim may also file a lawsuit against their harasser for civil wrongs such as defamation, harassment or public disclosure of private information online.