One thing I’ve learned from victims of online abuse is they are almost always targeted more than once. In fact, they often experience a pattern that can last for days, weeks, months or even years. To shorten this timeline, it’s critical to act quickly when the abuse starts.
This begins with knowing which organizations can help and enlisting them to:
Put an end to online abuse like cyberstalking, online harassment, image-based abuse (revenge porn) and more.
Hold the person causing the harm accountable, and
Remove any existing abusive or offensive content from the Internet.
This process should be straightforward. It’s not.
But first some good news: Most states have passed laws addressing online abuse and these acts violate the policies of most technology and social media platforms. This seemingly represents a clear path to stopping online abuse. And yet, what we’ve heard from victims is the reporting process can be confusing, frustrating and disempowering.
That is something no victim seeking help should experience, ever.
To shed light on this process, we’re creating a series of posts that break down where to report online abuse, how to report it and setting realistic expectations about the process. This post highlights some of the different organizations that can help.
Where to Report Online Abuse
This process often requires making reports early and often to different agencies and organizations. This can be daunting without a roadmap, especially for people who have just experienced trauma.
Below are 6 organizations where online abuse can be reported:
Local Law Enforcement (Police or Sheriff’s Department)
Traditionally the first of many steps, contacting local law enforcement will get the ball rolling on a potential investigation. Remember, there is no guarantee that filing a report will lead to an investigation or charges being filed.
Even if this doesn’t yield immediate (or any) results, this process still has value. A copy of a police report can be useful evidence when reporting to some of the others on this list, like tech platforms or when seeking a restraining order.
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Internet crime falls under the FBI’s jurisdiction. Reports can be made online via their Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3) here. Not sure if your situation applies? Don’t hesitate, report it. It’s the FBI’s role to review your allegation and make that determination.
Just know the ic3 site is not an FBI office, so set your expectations accordingly. It’s a website that collects complaints (a lot of them) and directs them to the appropriate field office. A confirmation email is automatically generated and then it’s up to the FBI to get in touch, which can take time.
Employers
This may be an option if the abuse is occurring at work; being perpetrated by a co-worker or is affecting the victim’s job performance. Depending on the laws in your state, an employer may be able to initiate accommodations to protect the victim; provide or secure any evidence on company servers and hold the perpetrator accountable if they are a co-worker.
Universities & High Schools
Under Title IX (a federal civil rights law), schools receiving federal funds (which is most schools) have a legal obligation to protect students from gender-based violence and harassment – including online dating violence, cyberstalking and revenge porn.
Incidents can be reported to schools directly, often through an established Title IX reporting system. Students can also make complaints to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights here.
Technology & Social Media Platforms
Acts of online abuse - impersonation, cyberstalking, revenge porn, harassment and more - can be reported to most online platforms like Instagram or Twitter. Such acts violate their user guidelines and policies. In response, these platforms MAY take action by deleting the offending post, message or account.
Before you report, know this: These companies are not legally obligated to comply with your request and cannot be held accountable for inaction or delay. (Yes, really.) Put another way, Facebook can refuse to take down an account that is blatantly impersonating you and suffer no legal consequences. Read this if you want to understand the law in question - Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act - that makes this possible.
That said, this is absolutely an actionable step to stop online abuse and should be utilized. Here are the dedicated pages to report abuse for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat and TikTok.
The Courts
Restraining orders are routinely sought by victims in civil courts who are experiencing online abuse. These orders can help address online abuse in different ways. The restrained party can be ordered to stop the abuse, remove/destroy any abusive content and agree not to commit future acts of harm. An online search about restraining orders in your area should yield results about how and where to file.
As you can probably tell, each of the 6 reporting options have pros and cons. That being said, the journey to ending or reducing online abuse can start with reporting to these organizations. In our estimation, that makes it worth it. Download the ‘Where to Report Online Abuse’ here.