Cyber stalking
For this Module, please choose from the following topics as the general subject of your paper:
Punishments for first-degree murder
Excusable homicide
Felony murder
Cyberstalking
While you are primarily addressing the topic selected, you may want to discuss or expand on a topic presented in the textbook, a case dealing with the subject, or a current event from the news or Internet, and present your viewpoint or perspective on that item as it relates to the issue present in your chosen topic.
Introduction
The world has become a global village, and therefore information keeps changing day in day out. Various factors have affected technology, such as technological power, the fast speed of the internet, knowing the unknown, and the major one being passing information to anyone and anywhere and anytime. Despite all this, the internet has opened the world to new criminal offenses that have affected the physical jurisdiction and have brought various limitations to identify the offense and offer appropriate punishment. In summary, cyber stalking has been misinterpreted as one thinks cyber stalking involves sexual offenses. Still, this essay discusses the research findings on cyber stalking crimes and the legal measures to prevent this emerging worldwide crime.
Internet as a medium for online predatory behavior
Cyber stalkers prefer using the internet since the internet has become relatively cheap, it’s also easy to use, and it’s difficult for cyber stalkers to be detected. One can easily mistake such malpractices for sexual offenders who identify children, and their main aim is sexual satisfaction. Despite all this, we cannot brush off the fact that through the internet, sex offenders have taken advantage of since there are large numbers of people using the internet every day. Teen is considered to be the most vulnerable group considering the various numbers of such pornographic sites. For instance, in the United States, more than 80 million adults can access the internet in various places, be it home, school (Lyons et al.,2020).
Moreover, spyware software has made stalkers buy costly software to notify the cyber stalker if the targeted person is online. All one needs is the name of the targeted person; however, much the targeted person may choose to block such, the cyber stalker might still find ways to get the targeted person through the complex computer programs. Nevertheless, it has been concluded that. Therefore, cyber stalking offenders use unknown emails to ensure that no service provider or law enforcer can detect him or her.
Legal and social issues of cyber stalking
Various challenges come with cyber stalking, especially to the departments that lack enough resources to handle such crimes. For instance, a cyber-stalker may be in another nation; thus, it becomes a hindrance to identify such cyber stalker and prosecute him or her (Hamin et al.,2018).To add, internet connection speeds are much faster and efficient. One such hindrance to this is that the agencies must have a court order specifically if it’s a personal information request (Chandrashekhar et al.,2016).Despite various measures being put into place to curb cyber stalking, like equipping the affected group with knowledge and sensitizing them on cyber stalking so as to ensure when they happen they know the appropriate measures to take various websites allow their users to log in to their respective email accounts with less or no authentication procedures as long as the user’s email is accurate.
To conclude, various agencies and officials have come up with various solutions, for instance, avoidance of publishing personal information on social sites and being very careful when meeting with a person from online sources. To assist this investigation, cyber stalking victims should advise the cyber stalker that the information obtained could be used to prosecute him or her. Still, to curb this also can be through blocking or ignoring unwanted communication or person. However, the figures of cyberstalking crimes are increasingly getting high, and there’s a need to research.
References
Chandrashekhar, A. M., Muktha, G., & Anjana, D. (2016). Cyberstalking and Cyberbullying: Effects and prevention measures. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(3), 95-102.
Hamin, Z., & Rosli, W. R. W. (2018). Cloaked by cyber space: A legal response to the risks of cyber stalking in Malaysia. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 12(1), 316-332.
Lyons, M., Messenger, A., Perry, R., & Brewer, G. (2020). The Dark Tetrad in Tinder: hook-up app for high psychopathy individuals, and a diverse utilitarian tool for Machiavellians?. Current Psychology, 1-8.
