About Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is a term used to cover three distinctly different kinds of problems. The most frequent form is simple harassment, where you find yourself "flamed" (criticized or attacked) by people who take issue with what you said (or how you said it). A typical scenario is that you post something in a newsgroup that sparks others to post nasty messages in response, or they fill your e-mailbox with notes warning you not to sin again.

Cyberstalking also refers to a situation where individuals -- often women or children -- receive unwanted advances or hate-filled threats in chat rooms, through instant messages, or in their email. Most dangerous of all, of course, is when the cyberstalker makes the leap to stalking the person in real life.

In all three situations, an ounce of prevention is far preferable to attempting to devise a cure, since nothing short of incarceration can stop a relentless and determined harasser or stalker. As Michael Banks, author of Web Psychos, Stalkers and Pranksters, writes: "It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."

Fortunately for Michiganders (or Michiganians, if you prefer), ours is one of only seven states that has passed legislation that specifically addresses harassment and stalking in electronic correspondence, and that can make prosecution easier. Unfortunately, Michigan needed new laws because of an internationally infamous case where University of Michigan student Jake Baker published an erotic fantasy online, detailing how he raped and tortured a female classmate -- using her real name.

Baker was originally charged with "transmitting threats across states lines," which was revised to making a "threat to injure another person." He was ultimately acquitted because the story was deemed "self-expression" and not as a real "threat."

Preventing the problem not only helps to ensure your safety, but it spares you from experiencing the fear and turmoil fear that stalking victims endure. And prosecuting these crimes is often complicated by the fact that your stalker could live in another state -- or another country.

IF YOU ARE BEING STALKED - If you have any reason to think that you may be in any physical danger, dial 911 immediately. Don't worry about looking foolish -- better to be embarrassed than dead.

If you are instead getting unwanted online advances or messages that seem threatening or hateful, the best first line of defense is to ignore your stalker. Don't succumb to the desire to tell them off by return e-mail or instant message -- often that encourages escalation. If you are lucky, you have merely run into teenagers with a short attention span who think of this as a prank. (Which should serve as a reminder to us all make sure that our own youngsters do not see such behavior as a joke.)

If the person is instead a real and persistent cyberstalker, they will not easily get bored and give up. So do not delete even that one upsetting message you receive -- it may be the first of a series of communications that you must document to prosecute your online attacker successfully.

Keep in mind that many police agencies do not know how to deal with this new kind of crime. Cyberlawyer Mark D. Grossman says, "Remember, you're likely to be the first cyberstalking case that your particular police person has ever seen. You're likely to be greeted with skepticism and the same blank look that you might get reporting that ET is in your house. So at least come in with some printouts demonstrating the problem."