“Cyberstalking: a course of conduct to communicate words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or communication that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.”

With the advent of social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, there is now an unlimited ability to reach out and touch someone via electronic communication. As a result of these social media forms being misused, the Court system has had to create new laws to deal with these types of problems. One such area that has developed is the use of “Cyberstalking Injunctions” (commonly referred to as “Restraining Orders’) to prevent such electronic forms of communication from destroying a person’s life, both socially and emotionally. Just because “Cyberstalking” does not include physical contact with the perpetrator does not mean it is not as threatening or frightening as any other type of crime.

Wikipedia defines “Cyberstalking” as the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization. Our Florida Statutes define it as a “course of conduct to communicate words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or communication that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.”

As a family law attorney who practices exclusively in this area, it is my duty to impart my knowledge and to somewhat educate the judges that preside over these types of Injunctions, as to what in reality “Cyberstalking” is, as opposed to “Legitimate Purpose” types of communication. Clearly, if you and your ex have a child in common and are discussing “legitimate” co-parenting issues, it is not cyberstalking. If your ex crosses that threshold and it turns into blatant abuse of emails, text messages and phone calls that serve no legitimate purposes other than to “harass” you, then you need to think in terms of filing a restraining order against him or her. However, if you do decide to go that route, you will need to make sure you have saved your emails and text messages to prove up your case. You may also need to go onto Facebook and print out such evidence of cyberstalking.

The more scary type of “Cyberstalking” comes from those individuals that don’t seem to know when to say when. These are the true “stalkers” that will not stop harassing you until you take action. They will call you, email and text you so many times that ultimately, you will have to block them. They even go a step further by fabricating “fake” email addresses so that you cannot either identify or trace their IP address, if you had to go into court and testify against them.

Cyberstalking can manifest itself in many number of disguises. Once you step into “cyberspace” you do so at your own peril. Forty-seven states now have laws that explicitly include electronic form of communication within stalking or harassment laws.