There are many ways that cyberbullies and online harassers try to harm their victims. Sometimes they publish the victim’s personal contact information online. Sometimes trolls post offensive comments on a person’s social media pages.
Cyberbullying is most often written about in the context of how it can impact youths and adolescents. According to the American Bar Association, cyberbullying is defined as any kind of bullying that occurs through e-mail, chat, instant messages, text messaging, social media, or through videos or photos sent digitally. Recent news stories have reported on instances where teens or adolescents committed suicide or harmed themselves due to pervasive bullying. More parents and communities are asking how they can fight back.
Serious acts of cyberbullying can result in misdemeanor charges. If a person is hacked, federal law enforcement could get involved. There are no federal laws regarding cyberbullying, and while 45 states have anti-cyberbullying statues, there is no specific law that gives victims or parents the specific right to seek damages when a child or teen is harmed due to cyberbullying. Despite this, personal injury lawyers like the Law Office of Robert Gregg in Dallas, Texas may be able to use state statues to pursue claims when individuals are harmed due to cyberbullying.
Yet, cyberbullying may not just impact youths and teens. Recently, when a ProPublica journalist published a piece about how PayPal and other technologies gave extremist websites a revenue channel, the journalists who wrote the piece faced an influx of e-mails to their work in boxes. Attackers had signed them up to e-mail subscriptions, clogging their email with junk mail, making it impossible for them to use their email accounts. The attack is known as “subscription bombing.” In fact, the act can be incredibly costly to businesses and persons who rely on their e-mails. Other attacks like this are easy for hackers to perform and some don’t even require sophisticated computer knowledge.
In order for individuals to seek damages for online harassment or cyberbullying, they must show that the harassment resulted in physical harm, put a person in fear of physical harm, or resulted in psychological harm. Yet, if one person’s actions led to damages to a person’s business or other property, victims may also be able to sue for losses.
When minors are the ones committing these acts, the parents may be the ones held liable. Some personal injury lawyers are looking to seek damages from homeowner’s insurance coverage, when property owners have bodily damage coverage. School personnel who were aware of the bullying may also be held financially liable if they were aware of the bullying and did nothing to stop it.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to online harassment or bullying, you are not alone. This harassment can cause real damages, both emotional, physical, and even to a person’s livelihood. If you or a loved one has been injured, visit the personal injury lawyers today to protect your rights and learn more.