This branch of law determines which actions are crimes against the state. In criminal law, there are two approaches to cyberbullying:. Harassment is when something a person says or does makes someone fear for his or her safety, or for the safety of others. Even if the perpetrator did not intend to frighten someone, she or he can be charged with harassment if the target feels threatened.
Criminal harassment is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It is most often treated as a crime if the libelous statement is directed against a person in authority and could seriously harm his or her reputation. Defamatory libel is punishable by up to five years in prison. Publishing intimate images without consent is a crime under the Criminal Code. Publishing intimate images without consent was added as an offence in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of expression.
Several provinces and territories have laws specifically dealing with online and offline bullying:. This was the result of a case where a woman who sued a former romantic partner for sharing without her permission a sexually explicit video she had sent him. School boards are required to create anti-bullying plans and all school staff must take part in the plan.
At the time of writing December no law has been drafted to replace it. In simple terms, cyberbullying involves inflicting emotional pain and humiliation upon another person, or group of people, using technology. This means kids, and some adults too, may send cruel or harassing text messages, post embarrassing information or rumors to social media, or make vile comments in an online forum.
Cyberbullies use technology to threaten, harass, demean, embarrass, humiliate, and target other people. One of the things that make cyberbullying so dangerous is that, unlike traditional bullying , the harassment is ongoing, even after the school day or the workday has ended. Technology allows bullies to follow their targets everywhere, even while in the safety and security of their own homes.
There is no escape. Anytime a victim has access to technology, they can be cyberbullied. What's more, social media creates easy opportunities for harassment. For this reason, many young people witness online cruelty every single day. In fact, it is becoming a daily part of their lives and the consequences are significant. Yet, because it is happening all around them, young people are becoming immune to the significance of the issue and have started to accept it as a part of life.
When this happens, it becomes even more difficult for the culture of cruelty to change and cyberbullying remains constant. Additionally, because cyberbullies cannot see the impact the words are having on another person, they often are much crueler online than they ever would be in person. For instance, the lack of immediate reactions or facial cues allows cyberbullies to become emotionally detached from what they are doing. In fact, some people who harass others online would never consider themselves cyberbullies.
But they are. Anytime, a person harasses another person online they are cyberbullying them. Here are some examples of cyberbullying:. Overall, cyberbullying often has significant consequences because it is so cruel and seems to be never-ending.
For this reason, educators, community leaders, and lawmakers are working hard to address this type of bullying. So, is cyberbullying a crime? The short answer is yes. There can be legal consequences for cyberbullying. Take, for instance, sexting. In this situation, people who send or receive sexts can be charged with distributing child pornography.
What's more, if the person in the photograph took the photo themselves and then distributed it, they can be charged with distributing child pornography if they are a minor.
For this reason, it is extremely important that teens understand the consequences of sexting. They can find themselves in a lot of legal trouble if they do not understand the law. But cyberbullying laws are not limited to sexting. Although there is no federal law that specifically addresses cyberbullying, if someone is cyberbullied because of race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability or religion, it may overlap with discriminatory harassment and federal civil rights laws.
In fact, many cyberbullying cases wind up getting prosecuted as harassment. Consequently, some of the cases will end up in civil court while others might warrant criminal charges and prosecution for hate crimes, impersonation, harassment and violations under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act CFAA. In addition to these larger laws, individual states have their own laws and regulations regarding cyberbullying that vary state by state.
The government website, StopBullying. If someone is already depressed or anxious , cyberbullying can make things much worse. It's not just the person being bullied who gets hurt. The punishment for cyberbullies can be serious. More and more schools and after-school programs are creating systems to respond to cyberbullying. Schools may dismiss bullies from sports teams or suspend them from school. Some types of cyberbullying may violate school codes or even break anti-discrimination or sexual harassment laws.
So a bully may face serious legal trouble. Why would someone be a cyberbully? There are probably as many reasons as there are bullies themselves. Sometimes, what seems like online harassment may be accidental. The impersonal nature of text messages, posts, and other ways of communicating online means it can be hard to figure out if someone is joking or not. Most people know when they're being bullied, though, because bullying involves repeated insults or threats.
The people doing the bullying know they've crossed a line, too. It's not a one-off joke or insult — it's constant harassment and threats that go beyond typical fun teasing or a nasty comment made in anger. Sometimes, people are afraid or not sure if they're being bullied or not. So they don't do anything about it. If you're being bullied, harassed, or teased in a hurtful way — or know someone who is — you don't have to suffer in silence. In fact, you absolutely should report any upsetting texts, messages, posts, or emails.
Tell someone. Most experts agree: The first thing to do is tell an adult you trust. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.
With the prevalence of social media and digital forums, comments, photos, posts, and content shared by individuals can often be viewed by strangers as well as acquaintances. The content an individual shares online — both their personal content as well as any negative, mean, or hurtful content — creates a kind of permanent public record of their views, activities, and behavior.
This public record can be thought of as an online reputation, which may be accessible to schools, employers, colleges, clubs, and others who may be researching an individual now or in the future. Cyberbullying can harm the online reputations of everyone involved — not just the person being bullied, but those doing the bullying or participating in it.
Cyberbullying has unique concerns in that it can be:.
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