Cyberstalking on Social Media – Know Your Rights

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.

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

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.

YouTube

YouTube's Harassment & Cyberbullying policy explicitly prohibits stalking of an identifiable individual, repeated targeted attacks, and the sharing of personal information — such as home addresses, phone numbers or contact details — to direct harassment at a specific person. In some cases, YouTube may make exceptions for educational, documentary, scientific or artistic content, including debates about public figures, scripted performances and harassment awareness content — but this context must be present in the video itself, not only in the title or description. Where a pattern of targeted content is reported and left in place, or where YouTube acts inconsistently across a series of related posts, those decisions are reviewable by User Rights.

X

X addresses cyberstalking through two overlapping policies: Abusive Behaviour, which covers repeated targeted harassment and coordinated intimidation, and Private Content, which prohibits the publication of personal data — a common element of stalking behaviour. X has no standalone cyberstalking category; the behaviour is captured across these policies instead. X recognises that context matters — information already publicly available shared in a non-abusive manner may not be considered a violation. User Rights reviews X cyberstalking complaints primarily under the Abusive Behaviour policy, which falls within its scope of review.

LinkedIn

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.

Snapchat

Snapchat prohibits repeated harassment and targeted intimidation under the Harassment and Bullying section of its Community Guidelines. This explicitly covers persistent unwanted contact, the sharing of personal or identifiable information without consent, and using a new account to contact someone after being blocked — a pattern typical of cyberstalking. Commentary and criticism of public figures over 18 is permitted, provided it does not include harassment or calls for harm. Where reported stalking behaviour is left in place without adequate reason, or where a victim's account is incorrectly restricted, those decisions are within User Rights' scope of review.

Pinterest

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. (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.
4. 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.
5. 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

1. 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.
2. Appeal internally: Use the platform's appeal mechanism. Provide context that demonstrates the public interest purpose of your content – your organisation, the context in which the footage was captured and the editorial purpose it serves. You do not have to wait for a response by the platform after seven days from the date of your internal complaint. Please always provide evidence of your internal complaint case when you submit a case with User Rights.
3. 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?