Today is Stop Cyberbullying Day, and like I said yesterday I’m very angry about what happened to Kathy Sierra, and other people who have suffered abuse from Cyber Bullies, stalkers, and trolls. Rather than just write further about how awful cyberbullies are, I’ve decided to offer some tips for helping people fight back.
Take it Seriously
1. Contact the Police
If you are receiving threats of violence, are being made to feel unsafe, or believe a law has been broken — call the police. Don’t believe that “it’s only the internet” and somehow not part of the “real” world. Kathy Sierra did the right thing when she contacted the authorities. Better safe than sorry.
2. Even if it’s not illegal it could still be breaking the rules
While you might at first think that since an abusive comment isn’t “illegal” you have no recourse, don’t forget that the various services we use online each have their own additional rules and regulations. Most companies providing web-hosting, email, and internet access have terms of use that extend beyond what is or is not allowed by law. It may be legal to make certain statements under free-speech laws, but many web hosting providers are more restrictive.
Know Your Enemy
3. WHOIS responsible for this?
If you find bullying content on a website with it’s own unique domain, such as meankids.org, you can use the service at WHOIS.net to lookup information on where a website is hosted. This will usually provide you with the name of the web hosting provider, and you can visit their site to find theirs terms of service and contact info to report any abuse of their service.
4. WHOIS the people in your neighbourhood?
In addition to finding more info on a URL, you can also lookup where an IP address is originating. An IP address is like a digital fingerprint — it’s traceable back to a specific computer. While a user could enter someone else’s (or a ficticious) name, email, or website URL with a comment on your blog, their IP address is recorded automatically. Doing an IP lookup will show you the organization that owns the address (the Internet Service Provider), and often the email address to contact to report abuse of their service. Be sure to include both the IP address and time the comment was posted. In wordpress, the admin panel section for managing comments posted to your blog includes a link from each recorded IP address to the WHOIS search.
Shut them down
5. Bullying Blog Buster
Blogger’s Terms of Service states:
“Member agrees not to transmit through the Service any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, or harmful material of any kind or nature.”
As well as:
“You agree that Pyra (Blogger/Google), in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, BlogSpot Site, use of the Service or use of any other Pyra service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if Pyra believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS (Terms of Service).”
If you find a bullying blog, use the Blogger Problem Reporting Form to let them know about it.
You can similarly report abuse on Myspace.com for any content that is “offensive, illegal or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person.”
6. You don’t have mail
If you’re receiving abusive email from a cyberbully, in addition to contacting authorities you can contact the email service provider and have their account supsended. Free email services usually include Terms of Service as well. Gmail states that:
“You shall not, shall not agree to, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) use the Service to upload, transmit or otherwise distribute any content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable as reasonably determined by Google.”
If you receive email from a gmail account that is harassing and/or abusive, you can report it to them. Other free email providers like Yahoo! and Hotmail have similar policies, and methods to report problems.
Streetproof Your Blog
I’m running WordPress, so that’s what I’ll talk about today. Hopefully we can add to this list.
7. Install the Akismet, Spam Karma 2, and the Bad Behaviour plugins for WordPress
These plugin were primarily created to help block comment spam from your site, but they will also block users trying to use an open proxy to leave comments on your site from an untraceable IP address. Traceable IP addresses mean you’ll be able to report abusive comments to their hosting provider and/or the authorities. (see above)
8. Install Identicons or MonsterID plugins for WordPress
These plugins can be used to display a custom image based on the IP address of the person leaving a comment. Even if the user has a dynamic IP address or posts comments from multiple computers the generated images are more likely to be closer in appearance than those created from the IP address of an impostor from a different geographic region. If a regular commenter suddenly has an unusual Identicon, you might want to double check the source of their IP address. It might indicate someone is impersonating another user.
That’s all for now. Hopefully we’ll see some good discussion in the blogging community today.
Tag: stopcyberbullying
I saw the stories about the cyberbullying and didn’t even connect them to the Identicon or Monsterid plugins. Thanks for making the connection and all the other tips.
I wish I had seen your post closer to when you published it so my comment would be more timely. Oh well. Anyway, I appreciate this post on cyberbullying. This is a critical issue & one blogging platforms like Blogger & individual bloggers are giving short shrift to. I know because I’m routinely the victim of cyberbullying by people who disagree with my calls for peace bet. Israelis and Arabs.
Currently there is a website at Blogger created in my name using defamatory & infringing material to ridicule me. It’s a horrid, despicable site. In addition, I get harassing e mails fr. these same individuals.
In reply to your defensive suggestions above I want to say that while I commend you for pointing them out–they are largely ineffective. I’ve sent scores of abuse notices to ISPs about the harassing e mails & never even get a response fr. them. I’ve asked Google/Blogger to take down the fake, offending blog about me & they refuse relying on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which was written to protect hosts like Blogger fr. being liable for illegal material published by 3rd parties on their servers. Even though the blog violates Blogger’s TOS in countless ways, they hide behind Section 230 as an excuse.
The WP plugins you mention are golden. They really help monitor crap that people try to publish on one’s blog.
One suggestion you don’t mention but that I will is when this happens to you–make lemonade fr. the lemons. If some schmuck wants to drag you through the mud, do yr best to tell the world about it. If he’s trying to shame you, shame him back. I’ve gotten my story into the NY Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer & Computerworld. I’m still trying to get more coverage. Make them pay if they want to be assholes. Not that they’ll care. But it’ll make you feel a little better telling the world the type of people you’re dealing with.
One suggestion you don’t mention but that I will is when this happens to you—make lemonade fr. the lemons. If some schmuck wants to drag you through the mud, do yr best to tell the world about it. If he’s trying to shame you, shame him back. I’ve gotten my story into the NY Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer & Computerworld. I’m still trying to get more coverage. Make them pay if they want to be assholes. Not that they’ll care. But it’ll make you feel a little better telling the world the type of people you’re dealing with.
Agreed.
The cyberbully is a secretive cancer. When you introduce it to the light of truth it loses its power.
tanks
please email me, I am being cyberbullied/blackmailed/threatened/stalked online by someone and I don’t know where to go or who to contact
well…thats an interesting topic posted here….One of ma friend has been facing the same issues offline.. she tried to warn ‘em with the help of police and it went more worse as the police dint turn up saying that she has to first take a series of steps to stop them…She was being harassed/bullied/insulted a lot many times and finally she stopped going to work.
I felt so sorry for her…
Definitely, it is getting a much serious issues now-a-days. It has to be tackled down, and one has to raise ones voice to do that too.
The tips that you have offered are also very useful too.
thankyou yay
HI
I have definitely been bullied and have many friends who have been bullied not only by plain chatters but actual hosts and founders alike.
Seems to extend to emails and text messages.
Would it be okay to link your article to my website?
Appreciated
Shane