Cyber stalking: Social issues of harassment on internet

• Main Authors: Murshamshul Kamariah, Musa, Zuhairah Ariff, Abd Ghadas, Nazli, Ismail@Nawang, Mohd Shahril Nizam, Md Radzi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IDOSI Publications 2015
• Subjects: JA Political science (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5088/1/FH02-FLAIR-16-05243.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5088/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

The borderless nature of Internet and its easy access to cyberspace has provided a low-cost but high-connectivity ways for criminals to reach victims. This resulted in a rise of crimes which make use of the Internet as a medium, such as fraudulent scams, child sexual exploitations and a new concern cyber stalking. Cyber stalking has been labelled as the crime of the nineties due to its nature which utilises the latest technological telecommunications as a mean to perpetrate such act. Cyber stalking, similar to stalking, involves threatening or harassing behaviours by one individual against another, with the exception that this particular act makes full use of the internet. Compared to offline stalking, cyber stalking has caused more intense stress and trauma on the victim. This paper is an introductory research and aims to identify the characteristics of cyber stalking, how it is committed and whether there exist any legislations in Malaysia in comparison to jurisdictions such as the USA and UK, which addresses this new breed of crime. As an initial legal study on cyberstalking, the methods used are by way of doctrinal analysis of statutory provisions, judicial decisions and relevant government policies.