ENGLISH RESEARCH PAPER

Student X 1

Sample Student X

Misaghi

English 1

June 8th, 2017

Online Harassment

As our technology advances, it becomes apparent that people are placing more and more

of their own personal information on the internet. This type of exposure creates easy targets for

people who, for a variety of reasons, attack online users with the information that is readily

available on the internet. This dilemma has caused numerous debates regarding how to deal with

this situation. Even moreso, there is a confusion on who to blame; the attackers, or the victims

for providing the information so readily. While online harassment happens digitally, the effects

can be long lasting and life altering. In order to navigate away from these situations, you need to

be well informed on the who, what, and why of online harassment.

The amount of people who experience vicious harassment is staggering. According to the

Pew Research Center, 40% of internet users have experienced some form of harassment. Within

that statistic, 22% report that they experience a less harsh form of harassment, while 18%

confirm that they experience more violent forms of harassment (Duggan). There are various

forms of online harassment that can greatly affect an individual. Doxing is the action of

researching a person’s information, such as street address, phone number, and family members.

That information is then used to harass, threaten, and discredit the the individual. Swatting is the

act of alerting the FBI, or swat team, about a situation at a person’s home; this results in the

person getting roughly handled, their home being destroyed, and possible public embarrassment

occurring. Revenge porn is one of the most aggressive forms of harassment. It is the act of

Student X 2

posting naked pictures of someone without their consent. These photos could be ones that were

sent to the offender, or someone may have obtained them by hacking into their personal

computers in order to gain the image. These images are then posted on specific websites,

sometimes with the person’s phone number or address. While both men and women experience

online harassment, there is definitely a difference in how each party experiences the harassment.

Times Magazine posted an article by Soraya Chemaly who informed us that “For girls and

women, harassment is not just about “un-pleasantries.” It’s often about men asserting

dominance, silencing, and frequently, scarring and punishing them” (8). All of these types of

harassment have one thing in common; they all use information that is accessed through the

social media people use everyday. Many will happily provide a plethora of information without

realizing the repercussions. The possibility of harassment can be avoided if people take the

necessary precautions in order to protect their information.

Coincidentally, not long after I had begun writing this paper, I myself was a victim of

online harassment due to the actions of a close friend. On January 1, my friend Wendy was

involved in a protest turned brawl between the Alt-right and Anti-Fascist political groups.

Wendy, formally just a politically charged teenager, became the target of the Alt-right after

pictures of her fighting became viral. This hurled Wendy to become the accidental symbol of the

Anarchist Oak Roots Collective, a group who have been know to be very aggressive with their

protesting. In addition, this made her a target for the technologically advanced Alt-Right group.

Wendy experience doxxing, threats, and faced intimate pictures of her being found and spread to

her friends and family. The hackers were also able to gain access to her Facebook friends list,

where many people, including myself, received threatening messages in regards to our

connection to Wendy. Friends who, like myself, had absolutely no connection to this group. Yet

Student X 3

people who wanted to attack Wendy were happy to settle for harassing her friends and family.

This type of behavior can affect anyone, anytime, anywhere. It does not matter if you merely

frequent fishing forums; some people, drunk with the power of easily accessible information, can

absolutely use some of your most intimate information against you.

The internet’s most dangerous attribute is its constant archiving of information. The core

of how all harassment is executed online has to do with this easy access to other’s information.

Carrie Goldberg, attorney at C.A. Goldberg PLLC, engages with a variety of clients who have

had their lives altered due to attacks on them via the internet. She conveys about “clients whose

bikinis are photoshopped off and posted onto revenge porn sites, who are filmed getting dressed

or engaging in a sexual act without their knowledge [and] are advertised as prostitutes for sex on

websites such as Craigslist and Backpage” (Goldberg p 5). These clients reveal an unnerving

truth; it does not matter if a person has never taken a naked photo of themselves. If someone

wishes to portray a person as a sexual deviant, they have a plethora of easily accessible tools.

There is also the possibility that individuals in your own life can also use your image against you

with very little technological ability. Goldberg mentions one instance where one of her clients,

after turning down a woman, got “his name and social-media profile picture [posted] afterward

on an online STD registry” (p 6). Information is posted on forums that are willing and ready to

engage with the harasser. Forum style websites like 4chan, 9gag, and Reddit contain web pages

that are dedicated to posting photos and information of people in order for the victim to

experience a large amount of harassment at once. It is because of websites like these that group

harassment has been made all the more streamlined.

Pornagraphic photos that are posted on revenge porn websites will also contain the

victim's personal information, with the intent that viewers with continue the harassment.

Student X 4

Revenge porn worked as “pay back” by the poster. The picture will usually be accompanied by

numerous comments criticizing and attacking the victim. It is the intention that the victim, as

well as their family, get sent the webpages in order to further humiliate the victim. The practice

of revenge porn is not all that new to begin with. Cristen and Caroline, hosts of the podcast

“Stuff Your Mom Never Told You”, explain that in 1980 it was actually a “a hustler feature that

asked for nude photos of woman, with info including their hobbies, their fantasies, and

sometimes their real name” (Stuff Your Mom Never Told You, 2017). Hustler was then barraged

with women calling in and complaining; apparently, they had their photos and personal

information submitted to the magazine without their permission. While the only difference

between current times and now is there are sites dedicated to posting revenge porn, the

similarities are too close to ignore. So why hasn’t this been spoken about in detail? Anna

Richardson, a British Journalist, tackles this issue within her documentary “Revenge Porn”.

Within her documentary, Richardson investigated every nook of the revenge porn culture.

Lauren, the first of the interviewed, retold a horrendous event in which her ex-boyfriend posted

photos he had coaxed her into sending him onto a revenge porn website. Not long after they had

broken up, Lauren received a link from an anonymous user to the website in which she was

being featured; and what she found terrified her. She found herself, “with [her] full name, and

the 21 pictures [she sent], and a description of where [she’s] from, [her] uni, [her] course, [her]

sports, what team [she plays] for, where [she goes] on holidays. The worst part were to

comments”. The comments were there to further humiliate the victim. Hannah Robertson, an

anti-revenge porn activist, explained exactly what these websites were trying to accomplish.

According to Robertson, the revenge aspect is supposedly a communal experience for the posters

and the commenters. The goal is to humiliate the girl as much as possible. A reason is given

Student X 5

along with the posted pictures; whether it is a messy break up, cheating, or rejection, the main

goal is to defend the poor slighted soul that only wants revenge. So, the troops are sent to do

whatever they can to harass. Folami was not the first to know she had been targeted. It was

actually her 22 year old daughter who received the message that her mother’s nude photos had

been posted on a revenge porn website. Folami was awestruck at the whole situation,

particularity disturbed at the fact that 48,000 people had viewed the photo, stating that she had

“never felt more violated, and never felt more ill”. Revenge porn can be traced back to one man,

who started the whole trend with his own website. Hunter Moore, a 31 year old Californian,

stated the site “Is Anyone Up?” with the intend to allow men to get back at women they felt

wronged them. Moore was all too happy to help, especially considering his site was trafficking

over 30 million hits, taking in $13,000 a month. The brutal tactics used would include harassing

the family, and occasionally posting suicide notes written by some girls; the commenters took

joy in trying to convince them to do it. This didn’t last long, however, due to the fact that Moore

started hacking into women’s computers and stealing their naked photos. Anna Richardson

discovered through her own posting of a picture just how quickly one of these photos can travel.

Her own photo reached 18,000 views with a matter of hours. The comments were gruesome and

brutal; and the messages she received though the fake email she created borderlined

psychopathic behavior. Revenge porn is one of the worst of the harassments a person can face

due to its ability to ruin a life.

As these issues are fairly recent, there is a struggle amongst law enforcement and the

government; no one can agree on how to tackle and rectify the issue. Over the last decade, there

has been numerous attempts to criminalize online harassment; though there has been an

overwhelming apathy from government officials. A Boston Democratic representative, Katherine

Student X 6

Clark, has become a prominent figure in the fight against online harassment. Clark contacted the

FBI to discuss the matters of how to handle online harassment; though she did not make much

progress, as Clark explained that "They were pretty frank in saying that even if we had the

resources, this is not where we would put them" (p5). This attitude trickles down to law

enforcement, who equally regard this type of harassment as trivial. Clark argues how law

enforcement believes that online harassment "just [doesn’t] have a real-life impact…[and] many

don't seem to appreciate how devastating this can be to one's sense of safety and even financial

stability” (p6). This seems to be the common case; reporting these types of harassment is a

difficult experience. Clark herself had an encounter with swatting; right after she testified before

congress against it. Those who did not grow up with such a vast array of technology, are also the

ones deciding on the laws that coincide. As with any issue that threatens the livelihood of people,

the laws surrounding online harassment need to be strengthened and taken more seriously. There

needs to be more awareness to the issues; this is not school-aged “Cyberbullying”, this is an

attack on a person’s livelihood.

In order to disrupt the actions of these harassers, there needs to be more efforts from law

enforcement, as well as a greater of education, in accordance to online harassment. California

has been a forerunner with this issue, most likely due to the fact that it is where the phenomenon

originated. California has done a couple things that should be more widespread. First, California

has enacted an e-crime unit that is dedicated to tackling crime digitally; this is foremost the most

important step in order to take this type of harassment more seriously. By getting an entire

division dedicated towards the subject, we are normalizing the fact that there are repercussions

when you overstep legal boundaries. The Guardian's reports show that “38% of those who had

experienced online harassment chose to ignore it, and only 10% reported it to police” (Hunt p.

Student X 7

10). The last decade has seen a struggle to regulate crime on the internet due to the accessibility

of anonymity. What seems to be the constant issue with Revenge Porn, is it seems as though

there isn’t much recognition on the subject. Many do not know what it is until they are the

victims of it.

The internet is still considered entirely new territory, that has been growing at a speed so

rapid that laws are usually made after a significant number of people have already suffered.

There are 34 states within the united states that currently have laws pertaining to revenge porn;

however, most of them do not protect against the harassment of those who commented and

furthered the harassment, as well as various other forms of harassment. Goldberg, who works

closely with harassment laws, informs us that “harassment laws typically require direct contact

with the victim and a course of conduct” (par 6). What that means is if the perpetrator simply

posts the photo, and the harassment from the commenters is all digital, then there is no technical

crime committed. Tracking down a digital offender is definitely a daunting task, as the animity

of the internet allows a broad reaching of people to attack others, regardless of if they are one

two different hemispheres. There has been ah influx of legislation being proposed by legislators

that have dedicated that careers to protecting the victims of online harassment. Representative

Katherine M Clark, with her dedication to eradicate online harassment, has herself proposed

“One bill [that] criminalizes the malicious publication of private information, another [that]

prevents blackmailed demands for sexual acts, and a third [that] punishes people who falsely

report emergencies causing SWAT teams to be dispatched” (Goldberg 7). Clark is also pushing

for a division that focuses solely on cyber crime, much like the unit california has been

implementing over the past couple of years. This is a very costly venture; creating a whole new

crimes division will take a numerous amount of time and effort. However, there is no amount of

Student X 8

money that can compare to the way lives are destroyed but those who do not think twice about

who they harm. In addition to these types of laws being implemented, there is also the fact that

many people do not understand the dangers of putting up all of their personal information online.

The budding technological society we live in today promotes online lives that display every

aspect of ourselves, including our full names, addresses, and other personal details. I propose that

there should be a dedicated class within high school that informs students on how to protect

themselves from these situations. Adolescents are taught of many dangers that they can protect

themselves from, such as STIs and rape preventions. There should be more care when one is

putting personal information on the internet, and it all starts in what is normalized, and what is

taught. Young men and women should understand that the they can go to authority figures in the

situation that someone has posted a photo of them without their consent, no matter if that photo

has been shared to said person. Colleges as well should tackle this issue, as it seems as though

young adults in that age range suffer the most from online harassment. If other types of

prevention are taught to young adults, prevention from these types of situations should be taught

as well. Alongside the laws being passed, and the generation being informed, a decline in online

harassment can be possible and achievable.

Many feel angered towards what is being done to innocent victims online, however, they

are also at a loss as to what they can do to help. While men like Hunter Moore have been put

behind bars, there is still a numerous number of people that have taken his place, continuing the

cycle of harassment. The animity of the internet has caused a shift in sympathy among people;

many have a hard time seeing the victims as real people, due to this shift. How people act

towards each other online starts with shunning others who pursue an internet career in

harassment. Therefore, a shift in how we approach our digital interactions can be the first step to

Student X 9

combat this issue. Recognizing how much our presence on social media and the internet can aid

in making online harassment far more taboo, leading to some sort of decline in the subject. The

internet allows our most vulnerable groups to be harassed without much protection. The data

society reports that “Internet users ages 15-29, Black internet users, and those who identify as

lesbian, gay, or bisexual are all more likely to witness online harassment… women experience a

wider variety of online abuse, including more serious violations” (Data Society, 8). Our society

cannot move forward if we allow those who seek to harm others for their identities to pursue

such violent forms of harassment. The onslaught of harassment has been targeted at these groups

of people, because those harassers feel safe that there is seemingly no repercussion. In addition,

there is a significant amount that can be done from our own homes. We are in a start right now

where laws are still being actively debated and created. Making an effort to call your

representative for congress can have a significant impact on what laws are being considered.

Student X 10

Works Cited

Chemaly, Soraya. “There’s No Comparing Male and Female Harassment Online.”

Times Magazine, 9 September 2014, http://time.com/3305466/male-female

-harassment-online/

Duggan, Maeve. “Online Harassment.” Pew Research Center, 13 May 2017,

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/10/22/online-harassment/

Goldberg, Carrie. "How to Curb Online Harassment? Technology, Law and Advocacy Can

Help." The Washington Post, 2016. EBSCOhost,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/21/my-clients-get-stalked-

doxxed-and-humiliated-online-all-for-turning-down-a-date/

Hunt, Elle. “Online Harassment of Women at Risk of Becoming ‘Established Norm,’ Study

Finds”. The Guardian, 7 March 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl

e/2016/mar/08/online-harassment-of-women-at-risk-of-becoming-established-norm-study

Pitcher, Justin. "The State of the States: The Continuing Struggle to Criminalize Revenge Porn."

Brigham Young University Law Review, vol. 2015, no. 5, 15 May 2016, pp. 1435-1466.

EBSCOhost, libdb.smc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/l

ogin.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=115858558&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Revenge Porn. Directed by Amanda Rees, performance by Anna Richardson, 2015.

“The Revenge Porn Wars” Stuff Mom Never Told You, from howstuffworks, 27 March 2017,

http://www.stuffmomnevertoldyou.com/podcasts/the-revenge-porn-wars.htm

Young, Seth. “New Report Shows the Reach of Online Harassment, Digital abuse, and

Cyberstalking.” The Data Society, 21 November 2016. https://datasociety.net

/blog/2016/11/21/online-harassment/