Cyberstalking on Social Media – Know Your Rights

Cyberstalking is the repeated, unwanted monitoring, following or targeting of a person online – and it is one of the most distressing forms of digital harm. Platforms are obliged to enforce their own policies against stalking behaviour, but they often fail to act on reports or, conversely, remove the victim's own content by mistake. Whether you are experiencing cyberstalking that a platform has not acted on, or your content was wrongly removed, you have rights under EU law.

What Is Cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking means using digital channels – social media, messaging apps, email or online communities – to repeatedly monitor, contact or intimidate someone without their consent, in a way that causes fear or significantly disrupts their daily life. Unlike a single hostile message, cyberstalking is defined by its systematic, persistent character: a pattern of behaviour, not an isolated incident.

A typical example: An ex-partner begins commenting on the victim's public posts, tagging them in unrelated content and sending connection requests to their colleagues on LinkedIn. The user might as well simultaneously receive threats through a fake account.

Typical Forms of Cyberstalking on Social Media

Repeated unsolicited contact via messages, comments or tags
Creating fake or alternative accounts after being blocked
Systematic monitoring of a person's public posts and activity
Publishing personal information about the victim (doxxing)
Coordinating third-party harassment campaigns directed at the victim
Using the platform's report function to get the victim's content removed
Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent

Since the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force, users can challenge moderation decisions through a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body. User Rights is the first such body certified under Article 21 DSA in Europe for Social Media Platforms, certified by the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). The procedure is free of charge for users – the platform bears the costs. No prior internal complaint to the platform is required - but the content should be reported to the platform itself beforehand. Cases are currently reviewed for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Our assessments are based on platform policies and, where relevant, EU law as well as national law – including German, Italian and French law in applicable cases.

Cyberstalking Policies on Social Media Platforms

All platforms covered by User Rights are subject to the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires them to give reasons for moderation decisions and to cooperate with certified dispute settlement bodies. Each platform also maintains its own community standards, which prohibit stalking and harassment in their own terms.

Meta: Instagram and Facebook

Meta's Bullying and Harassment policy explicitly prohibits repeated unwanted contact, sexually harassing contact as well as calls for or statements of intent to engage in bullying or harassment. Non-consensual intimate images shared without consent are protected by the Adult Sexual Exploitation policy (this includes digitally created or AI-generated imagery). Meta explains that images depicting sexual violence or shared without the consent of the person depicted will be removed. Additionally, Meta's privacy policy addresses the publication of personal data without consent – a common element of stalking behaviour. The policy on Authentic identity representation can also play a role when fake profiles have been created. Enforcement tends to focus on individual incidents rather than the pattern as a whole, which is why victims' reports are frequently dismissed.

TikTok

TikTok's Community Guidelines on Harassment and Bullying prohibit targeted harassment, repeated unwanted contact and the coordination of off-platform attacks. TikTok also explicitly covers the misuse of reporting tools to silence victims – a practice known as report-brigading, which is itself a reviewable moderation failure when the platform does not correct it.

LinkedIn's Professional Community Policies prohibit unwanted contact, harassment and the publication of personal data without consent. The professional context does not make cyberstalking less harmful; repeated unsolicited connection requests, messages and public comments targeting the same person may constitute a reviewable pattern of harassment.

Pinterest's Community Guidelines prohibit harassment, privacy violations and the publication of personal information without consent. Pinterest's relatively niche use cases mean cyberstalking cases often involve the misuse of boards or idea pins to target, monitor or humiliate a specific individual.

What Can You Do if You Are Affected by Cyberstalking?

There are two situations in which User Rights can help: the platform has not acted on stalking behaviour you reported, or your own content has been removed or your account restricted – for example, because the stalker misused the platform's reporting mechanism against you.

Scenario A: You are experiencing cyberstalking and the platform has not acted

Document the pattern: Screenshot every relevant incident with the account name, date, time and content. Cyberstalking is defined by repetition – a record that shows the pattern is essential for any review.
Report to the platform: Use the in-built reporting function for each account or piece of content concerned. Where possible, indicate in your report that the incidents form part of a pattern of stalking behaviour, not isolated incidents.
(Optional) Appeal if dismissed: If the platform closes your report without action, appeal via the help centre or the notification you received. Keep a record of the appeal and the platform's response.
Submit to User Rights: If the platform's inaction was inconsistent with its own stalking or harassment policies, submit a complaint to User Rights. The review is free of charge for users.
Consider other remedies in parallel: Platform moderation and the User Rights procedure do not prevent you from also reporting to the police or seeking a civil protection order. In serious cases, both paths are worth pursuing simultaneously.

Scenario B: Your own content was removed or your account restricted

Check the reason: Platforms are required under Art. 17 DSA to give a specific reason for every moderation action. If the stated reason does not match your content, document this discrepancy.
Appeal internally: Use the platform's appeal mechanism. If a stalker has misused the reporting system to silence you, make this context explicit in your appeal.
Submit to User Rights: If the internal appeal was unsuccessful or not answered, submit your case. User Rights will assess whether the removal was consistent with the platform's own policies.

Note: User Rights does not review the content of direct messages, or moderation actions that were taken more than six months ago. A full overview of what falls within scope is available on the scope of review page.

Is a Platform ignoring your Cyberstalking Reports – or was your Content wrongly Removed?

Submit your case to User Rights. Our certified dispute settlement procedure is free of charge for users.

SUBMIT A CASE

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Yes. The creation of fake profiles to follow or contact someone after being blocked is explicitly prohibited under the policies of all platforms covered by User Rights. If the platform did not enforce this consistently, the inaction is reviewable. See also our article on Fake Profiles and Impersonation. Important: in case you want to submit several moderation measures, you must submit a separate complaint for each measure individually.

Cyberstalking typically involves one person systematically targeting another, with the defining element being a pattern of surveillance, unwanted contact or fear-inducing behaviour. Cyberbullying is a broader term that often involves groups and does not necessarily include the monitoring or following dimension. The two can overlap, and User Rights can handle cases that contain elements of both.

No. User Rights accepts cases from users across the EU, regardless of country of residence. Our assessments are based on platform policies and, where relevant, EU law as well as German, French or Italian national law. The DSA applies uniformly across the EU and grants equal rights to all users on covered platforms.

The non-consensual sharing of intimate images is a distinct and serious violation that all covered platforms explicitly prohibit. User Rights can review the platform's response to this as part of a cyberstalking complaint or as a separate case. See our article on Non-Consensual Intimate Images for more detail.

The procedure is free of charge for users. The platform bears the costs of the dispute settlement process.