The advances made in cyber technology have been nothing short of revolutionary, though it is not without its dark side. An example of this is the way it impacted the interactions between offenders and victims of cybercrimes. For example, there are the cybercrimes of cyberstalking and cyber harassment. Unfortunately, these are two very serious situations, which can have real-world repercussions. Tragically, this was the case for a teenage girl who was harassed by a grown woman through the social networking site MySpace until she took her own life (Hazelwood and Koon-Magnin). In the case of author Melissa Anellin, she received death threats via email for years from a woman living on the other side of the planet (Hazelwood and Koon-Magnin). Stalking and harassment are not new criminal offenses, but cyber technology has completely changed the landscape of these crimes in a multitude of ways.

From a logistical standpoint, cyber technology has made it easier for offenders to interact with their victims. To be stalked from across the planet, which was the case for Melissa Anellin, would have been a whole lot more unfeasible before modern communication methods. Cyber technology now allows these crimes to occur anytime from practically anywhere in the world.

Cyber technology also makes it harder for the victim to avoid the offender. All that the offender needs to harm the victim is a method to contact them whether this is a social media account, email, cell number, etc. The victim can block the account or number of the offender, but the offender can easily return to start the harassment all over again. Making a new email and social media account takes a matter of minutes. VPNs can be used to circumvent IP bans from a website. Additionally, the offender can conduct these horrible acts anonymously by using a made-up name. The victim will have to unfairly restrict their own accounts for their own safety.

It can also be difficult for victims to get legal help as advancements in cyber tech often outpace the law. Fortunately, 49 states now have statutes in the book to handle the crimes of cyberstalking and cyber harrassment (Hazelwood and Koon-Magnin).

For the above reasons, as well as others, cyber technology has completely changed the interactions between offenders and victims.

Resources:

Hazelwood, Steven, and Sarah Koon-Magnin. “Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harrassment.pdf.” Google Docs, drive.google.com/file/d/1OxzCb7kIVw7k2T8he_039V-nAgZBEhRU/view.