Addressing Cyber Harassment: An Overview of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace
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Journal of Law, Technology & the Internet Vol. 6 2015
ADDRESSING CYBER HARASSMENT: AN
OVERVIEW OF HATE CRIMES IN
CYBERSPACE
Danielle Keats Citron-
INTRODUCTION
It is an auspicious time to discuss cyber harassment and cyber stalking.
When I began writing about cyber harassment in 2007, it was dismissed as
a part of the bargain of online life. Although the abuse often involved
threats, defamation, and privacy invasions, commentators regarded it as
no big deal.' Victims were told to stop whining because they chose to
blog about controversial topics or to share nude images of themselves with
2
confidantes. Victims were advised to toughen up or go offline. The choice
was theirs-that was the deal.
Since 2007, so much has changed. Cyber harassment's harms are now
part of the national conversation. Perceptions and attitudes have changed,3
thanks in no small part to the work of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative4
(CCRI), End Revenge Porn,5 and Without My Consent,6 advocacy groups
devoted to educating the public about online harassment and to
spearheading reform.
Lois K. Macht Research Professor & Professor of Law, University of Maryland
Francis King Carey School of Law, Senior Fellow, Future of Privacy, Affiliate
Scholar, Stanford Center on Internet & Society, Affiliate Fellow, Yale Information
Society Project. I am grateful to Co-Dean Michael Scharf, Professor Ray Ku,
Stephen Congdon, and the staff of Case Western University's Journal of Law,
Technology, and the Internet who kindly hosted me to talk about my book Hate
Crimes in Cyberspace as its first inaugural distinguished speaker. This short piece
is adapted from my talk.
1. DANIELLE KEATS CITRON, HATE CRIMES IN CYBERSPACE (2014) at 19.
(exploring entrenched social attitudes trivializing cyber harassment); Danielle
Keats Citron, Law's Expressive Value in Combating Cyber Gender Harassment,
108 MICH. L. REV. 373 (2009).
2. DANIELLE KEATS CITRON, HATE CRIMES IN CYBERSPACE (2014) at 19 [hereinafter
CITRON].
3. See generally Danielle Citron, Online Engagement on Equal Terms, B.U. L. REV.
(Blog) (Oct. 19, 2015), http://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/citron-online-engagement-
on-equal-terms/.
4. See generally About Us, CYBER CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE,
http://www.cybercivilrights.org/about (last visited Mar. 7, 2016).
5. See generally Our Mission, END REVENGE PORN,
http://www.endrevengeporn.org/about/ (last visited Mar. 7, 2016).
6. See generally Who We Are, WITHOUT My CONSENT,
http://www.withoutmyconsent.org/who-we-are (last visited Mar. 7, 2016).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/caswestres6&div=4&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Addressing Cyber Harassment: An Overview of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace
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