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U.S. federal laws apply to cyber crimes committed across state lines or using a channel of interstate communication (such as telephones or the internet). The principal federal laws in this area prohibit: Using the internet to severely harass someone.

Under federal law, harassment becomes a federal crime if it takes place across state lines or through the internet, social media, or over the phone. It is federal harassment to cause someone substantial emotional distress or give them a reasonable fear of serious bodily injury or death.Jan 16, 2024.

Primary tabs. Harassment refers to words or behavior that threatens, intimidates, or demeans a person. Harassment is unwanted, uninvited, and unwelcome and causes nuisance, alarm, or substantial emotional distress without any legitimate purpose.

CYBERBULLYING: HOW TO SPOT IT AND HOW TO STOP IT

What Counts as Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying includes any form of electronic communications which are intentionally used to hurt, threaten, or embarrass another person. It could include harassment, mean comments, starting rumors, or a bunch of other stuff too. Cyberbullying might take the form of:

Hurtful gossip pages on Instagram (or any other social platform)False impersonation profiles on Facebook (or any other social platform) that portray someone in a bad wayMean or derogatory comments left on someone’s photo or postDerogatory posts about someone on a Finsta pageSending threats or repeatedly harassing someone through DMs or messagesPosting malicious or embarrassing photos as “blackmail moments”Tagging people in unrelated photos to insult them (e.g., “this reminds me of you @username”)Creating subtweet threads to diss someoneAdding mean hashtags under photosPosting screenshots of private messagesForwarding private messages to others or uploading private pictures publiclyUploading embarrassing screenshots of someonePhotoshopping and reposting someone’s photo without their consent

What NOT to Do About Cyberbullying

It may seem like calling out a bully online is a good idea, but it’s almost never a good idea. Responding to intentionally hateful or hurtful content just calls more attention to the negativity, gives a bigger platform to the bully, and can even cause them to turn their negativity on you. The best thing to do is block that account and use the platform’s built-in tools to anonymously flag and report cyberbullying. Read on to learn how.

How to Anonymously Report Cyberbullying

All the main social media platforms have systems for you to flag hateful content. If you see any of the content above, anonymously report it. The person who posted it will receive a warning (they won’t see who flagged them) and could even have their account shut down. Plus, the more we flag, the more we encourage platforms to step up in policing this kind of content. Here’s how to get started.