To anyone being bullied, to those who have hate-blogs against them, and everyone in-between:
There are people who can and will protect you.
Do not let people, or groups of people, control how you think or what you do. There are people on here who are more than capable and willing to protect and help you, myself included. We have resources. We have knowledge. We have understanding, and we have empathy.
To begin with, I want to let you know the following.
If someone or a group of people are consistently harassing you, and/or have formed a hate-blog about you, this is called Cyberstalking, and it is a crime which can result in criminal penalties all the way up to jail, with some cases resulting in minors being tried as adults for felony charges.
Cyberstalking includes stalking, harassing, false accusations, defamation, slander, and libel, threats, and attempts to gather information used to threaten or harass. (Includes Doxing) Cyberstalking can also be defined when someone goes out of way to cause problems, but without a sustained and planned long-term campaign.
It is a criminal offense, and you can report it. First, report it to tumblr, even if you know they won’t do anything, and then seek help with your local law enforcement.
Other things that can count as Cyberstalking:
False Accusations - The harasser attempts to damage the reputation of their victim and turn people against them. They may post false information or cherry-picked information, set up their own websites, blogs, or pages for this purpose and post allegations about the victim on places that allow public contributions.
Attempts to gather information: This can include communcating with the victims friends, family, followers, or anyone else who might have any type of personal information on them.
Monitoring their target’s online activities: This also includes attempting to trace their IP address in an effort to collect more information about their victim, or going out of their way to know what, when, and where their victim is doing or posting.
Encouraging others to harass them: Cyberstalkers may claim their victim has harmed the stalker or has done bad or wrong to deserve their actions, and may post information for others to join in their harassment of the victim.
False Victimization: The cyberstalker claims that the victim is harassing him/her.
Most countries have laws and repercussions involving cyberstalking and cyberbullying (basically the same thing.) However, since I’m in the USA and my law enforcement experience is in the USA, I will talk about American laws.
Right now, laws differ state to state, but cyberstalking is a criminal offense under anti-stalking, slander, and harassment laws, and can result in a restraining order, probation, or other penalties including jail.
If you are being cyberstalked or cyberbullied to these extents:
Internet-related crime, like any other crime, should be reported to appropriate law enforcement investigative authorities at the local, state, federal, or international levels, depending on the scope of the crime. According to justice.gov, they suggest reporting internet harassment to the FBI Local Office.
But please, at the end of the day, remember – You have people who can and will protect you and be on your side. Do not forget that!
