What is Cyberstalking?
By Joy Puri
Table of Contents
Introduction
Cyberstalking in the new age era has evolved as a prevalent and concerning issue in the digital age, coming up with significant challenges for individuals, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers alike. Former form of harassment involves electronic communication and technology to target victims, causing fear, distress, and sometimes even physical harm in rare cases. Understanding the concept, impact on the society, and preventive measures towards cyberstalking is crucial in addressing this difficult issue effectively.
Zooming in deep, cyberstalking involves the continuous and unwanted pursuit of an individual or group through online channels in the society. The methods employed by cyberstalkers are distinctive and often includes harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and invasion of privacy over the individual’s autonomy. Social media platforms, email, direct messaging, online forums, and various digital channels serve as avenues for perpetrators to engage in these harmful behaviors of the society. Cyberstalkers sometimes too send threatening or obscene and horrific messages, spread rumors or false information, impersonate the victim online in order to harass them, or use technology to track the victim’s movements and activities in their real life.
Technology does play a role in both perpetuating and combating cyberstalking altogether. As digital tools and platforms enable perpetrators to harass their victims, they also offer opportunities for prevention and intervention at the same time. Online safety features, privacy settings, and security measures are existent to provide help to the individuals in order to protect themselves from cyberstalking and lessen its impact. Collaboration between technology companies, law enforcement agencies, and advocacy groups is essential in developing innovative solutions to address cyber harassment effectively in the society.
What is cyber stalking?
Cyberstalking can be typically entailed as a form of online harassment or stalking that occurs through electronic means, such as the internet, social media, email, or other digital communication platforms. Thereby it consists of using technology to intimidate, threaten, or monitor an individual, often persistently and obsessively. Cyberstalkers tend to use various tactics, such as sending threatening or harassing messages, tracking someone’s online activity, spreading false information about the victim, or even impersonating them online. These often lead to extortion too.
The feminists movements which tend to catch attention of the people have many times enshrined that cyberstalking is a form of gender-based violence which disproportionately affects women of the society. They outline the role of power dynamics in cyberstalking cases and advocate for greater awareness and support for victims.
From the technological standpoint, experts focus more on the importance of cybersecurity measures in order to prevent cyberstalking incidents, such as encryption, privacy settings, and anti-stalking tools. They also target the need for digital literacy and education to empower individuals to protect themselves online.
Taking the point of view of the learned psychologists in the society view cyberstalking as a manifestation of behavior, often stemming from underlying psychological issues such as obsession, jealousy, or a desire for control. They emphasize the need for intervention and treatment for both the stalker and the victim.
How to deal with it as a Victim?
As a victim the person shall never be afraid of the outcome as the legal framework provides various platforms in order to promote justice and integrity. The legislation of IT Act, 2000 entails about the following sections in order to provide recourse to the victims.
Section 66E: Punishment for violation of privacy
Section 66A: Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services, including electronic communication.
Section 67: Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
Section 67A: Punishment for publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form.
Section 67B: Punishment for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit act in electronic form.
Section 72: Breach of confidentiality and privacy.
There are also certain Sections in the Indian Penal Code,1860 which deal with cyberstalking and stalking. These sections are enshrined below.
Section 354D: Stalking
Section 506: Punishment for criminal intimidation
If one is a victim of cyber stalking in India, they can file a complaint in the nearest police station or with the cyber cell of the police to help them out. It’s crucial to provide as much evidence as possible, including screenshots, emails, messages, etc., to support your case in regards to the pertaining matter.
Landmark Judgements
Ritu Kohli v. State
In the pertaining case, the Delhi High Court enshrined that cyberstalking and harassment through electronic communication falls under the purview of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which criminalized sending offensive messages through communication services.
State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti
In this case, the accused was charged under Section 354D of the Indian Penal Code for cyberstalking and sending sexually explicit messages to a woman through digital form. The Madras High Court deciphered that cyberstalking constituted an offence under Section 354D and upheld the conviction of the accused.
N. Parameswaran Unnithan v. State of Kerala
In the above mentioned matter the accused was charged with cyberstalking and harassing his former girlfriend through emails and social media. The Kerala High Court delivered a judgement and entailed that the accused’s actions constituted offences under various sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act, 2000, and upheld his conviction.
Conclusion
Education and awareness-raising efforts are vital constituents of any strategy to address cyberstalking in the new global era. Empowering individuals with skills about online safety, privacy protection, and reporting mechanisms can prove to be helpful in order to recognize and respond to stalking behaviours effectively. Educational initiatives target both the general public of the country and vulnerable populations; such as adolescents and young adults which are easy to be victims of the honey traps, by providing them education about the same. it can help foster a culture of digital responsibility and respect.
Disclaimer:
The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only, and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. Furthermore, any information contained in the article is not guaranteed to be current, complete or accurate. If you require legal advice or representation, you should contact an attorney or law firm directly. We are not responsible for any damages resulting from any reliance on the content of this website.
