Maryland Criminal Attorney Blog
In the last few years, explosive growth of social media caused an explosion of internet harassment. Whether it is internet harassment of a person or a business, the growth of cyber-bullying, revenge porn, or just plain false information online has grown exponentially. Changes in evolving technology have been far ahead of the law and its protections for people.
This blog explores victims of internet harassment’s legal options and explores legal shortcomings in the ever-evolving area of internet law.
Criminal Conduct and Protective Orders: Know Your Options
If You Are Being Harassed
First, every situation is different and nothing in this article is meant to substitute for good legal counsel.
The threshold question is this: Are you being physically threatened through telephone, text, email, or social media?
If the answer is YES, you should immediately call the police. If the answer is NO, your situation still needs to be examined more thoroughly.
Second, if you are having profane material being spread electronically without your consent, you should also immediately call the police.
However, if the person is spreading lies, falsehoods, or other material about you in cyberspace you should contact an attorney (and after you call the police in the first two situations). In any instance, an attorney can help you through the process as there are several possible legal avenues to remedy your situation.
Defining Internet Harassment
For the purposes of this article, I will characterize anything that is posted online by one person about another (person or business) that is reasonably perceived as inappropriate as “internet harassment,” including (but not limited to):
- Revenge porn
- Defamation
- Abuse
- Harassment
- Negative feedback
Is internet harassment a crime? Can you file criminal charges?
Of course, like all things in the law, the answer is “maybe.” Criminal charges typically require what is called specific intent and it will require more than bad language or opinion posted about another person in a single instance. And someone’s right to free expression is at play if the police become involved in the investigation or prosecution of the matter.
Below are some examples of possible crimes in Maryland that a person committing internet harassment may commit:
Maryland Harassment Law
Harassment, under Maryland Law, is when a person follows another in or about a public place or maliciously engages in a course of conduct. This conduct would alarm or seriously annoy the other with the intent to harass, alarm, or annoy. It’s only criminal harassment after receiving a reasonable warning or request to stop by the other person and without any legal purpose.
It also does not apply to a peaceful activity designed to express a political view or give information to others. Harassment carries 90 days in jail for a first offense and 180 days for a subsequent offense.
So, for a real-life example, harassment would be if you repeatedly text or call someone after being asked to stop. Or if you follow someone around in a car or on foot, after being asked to stop.
Applying that situation to internet harassment, usually the first step is to ensure a clear and unequivocal warning or request to stop, either via text message, social media message, etc. Subsequent contact between the victim and the harasser may constitute a waiver, so beware of engaging your harasser in subsequent internet communication.
We simply recommend to our clients to record and document the contacts and screenshot or download the communications. Keep it for evidentiary purposes and use at a later criminal and/or civil hearing. And obviously, to contact the police to document the situation. See e.g. Pall v. State 117 Md. App. 242 (1997).
Example of Internet Harassment
One obvious loophole with the internet is when someone is posting about another on their own social media page. For example, a boyfriend and girlfriend break up. The boyfriend is upset about the situation. Boyfriend “defriends” girlfriend and proceeds to post derogatory things on his OWN social media page. The postings annoy the ex-girlfriend and she warns the ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend does not stop and continues to post his rantings (not violent but derogatory and probably offensive) on his OWN page.
This common scenario may not be covered under the crime of harassment. There is no case law on this issue in Maryland and judges (who are often not social media users and much older than the average defendant) have a difficult time grappling with the fact that posting material on one’s own page can harass through mutual friends or the general internet. Of course, if the content of the messaging is violent or defamatory, a judge may view the material differently.
Peace Orders and Protective Orders
Can you file for a peace order or a protective order for internet harassment?
Of course, like all things in the law, the answer is “maybe.”
You will be required to prove, through demonstrative evidence that the person has committed certain underlying acts to obtain a peace order. Those acts would be listed in Cts. & Jud. Proc, §3-1503.
If you are in the category of persons who are only eligible for a protective order, you must demonstrate some level of violence associated with the actions of the harasser. It is a major loophole in Maryland Law. If you have specific questions relating to peace and protective orders, contact the Silverman Thompson family law department at 410.385.2225.
Jump ahead to part 2 of this series where we further explore civil remedies to internet harassment.
Internet Harassment – Stalking
Stalking, in Maryland, is a malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another person where the defendant intends to place or knows or reasonably should know that the conduct would place the victim in reasonable fear of serious bodily harm, assault, rape, imprisonment, or death or the conduct would cause serious emotional distress to the victim. Or to a third person will suffer the same. Stalking is following someone around with the intent to place them in fear.
Stalking is much more specific than harassment, especially when it comes to the internet. It involves a level of violence which is essentially a step up from harassment. A classic example would be following or leaving threatening letters or notes. It would likely not cover our example listed above about the ex-boyfriend posting on his own social media page.
Internet Harassment – Misuse of Telephone Equipment
Maryland law says that a person may not use telephone facilities or equipment to make:
- An anonymous call that is reasonably expected to annoy
- Abuse, torment, harass or embarrass another
- Repeated calls with the intent to annoy, abuse, torment, harass or embarrass another
- A comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent
What exactly does telephone facilities or equipment mean?
Does it encompass the internet and internet-capable telephones?
These questions remain unanswered by Maryland law and it is unclear if our ex-boyfriend example of internet harassment would be considered a crime. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 3 years in jail.
Misuse of electronic communication or interactive computer service.
This statute is a combination of misuse of telephone equipment, stalking, and harassment over electronic communication or social media. This is generally the most appropriate crime for any type of internet harassment.
Be mindful that the conduct must either be threatening in nature or have a warning from the victim. Assuming the communication harassed, alarmed, or annoyed the victim, our ex-boyfriend example fits the misuse of electronic communication. It only carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail.
Internet Harassment – Revenge Porn
On October 1, 2018, a new revenge porn law went into effect and was updated in 2023, seriously altering the prior law It is long, complicated, and could merit its own blog entry.
Suffice it to say that extortion through revenge porn and the act of distributing a visual representation of another identifiable person while engaging in any sort of sexual activity without the consent of the victim would almost invariably be a crime. The law is still new enough that there are no direct reported decisions interpreting the statute in Maryland.
This crime would clearly be excluded from our ex-boyfriend example of internet harassment. It is a good tool for prosecutors, with a maximum penalty of 2 years for this type of conduct.
Additional Potential Crimes
It’s possible that trespassing on private property or disorderly conduct could be criminalized by certain types of internet harassment, such as cybersquatting or spamming.
However, both of those crimes require “property” and “public spaces” as elements and it is unclear if a court would recognize a webpage or a web-space as a public space for property and criminal purposes. This type of conduct has existed for some time in the world of the internet, but the law is slow to catch up and no decisions exist in Maryland on this issue.
Contact an Expert Internet Harassment Attorney
Former prosecutor Kurt E. Nachtman has decades of experience handling various harassment cases from civil and criminal sides.
Mr. Nachtman has extensive trial experience alongside his history of obtaining favorable settlements for clients. He is known by clients and peers for his strong courtroom presence, dedication to his clients, and attention to detail.
He can be reached directly at kurt@silvermanthompson.com or (443) 909-7490.