Let me start out with a disclaimer that this isn’t intended to be a ‘woe is me’ article.
I try my best to live a happy life and take pride in the fact that I surround myself with productive and positive people, who are doing great things with their own lives.
None of what I’m about to detail affects me in the kind of way that would result in any sort of self-harm. I’m perfectly okay. Unfortunately though, not everyone is like me. This is why I’m documenting my experiences here with the hope that if anyone finds themselves in a similar situation that they can better understand their options and not make the same mistakes I have.
For the majority of you reading this, what I’m about to talk about will all be new information.
I’ve never been one that advertises my problems to the world, so with the exception of a few close friends (as well as others who have been affected by this), I’ve mostly just internalized all of this and not mentioned it. I think though, as things escalate, that it’s about time that I detail some of this information so that people can understand what I’ve had to endure for the past couple of years.
Before I start though, due to Taiwan’s defamation laws, I will not be mentioning the names of anyone involved. Likewise, I would appreciate it if you would not ask me privately for this persons name. If you are one of the select few who are privy to know who this person is, please don’t write their name in any public space where I’m involved.
You might be thinking, wow, this seems serious.
I guess you could say that - I wouldn’t be using this space to publish this information if it wasn’t, but at the same time, its also extremely insignificant and probably just an annoyance that people like me all over the world have to put up with.
Anyway, getting to the point, I have a stalker.
Or maybe you could say a “cyberbully” or an “online troll.”
My Stalker Story
Whatever you’d like to call it, for the past few years I’ve had to endure the harassment of someone who has projected all their life’s failures onto me.
Initially I was naive about all of this, so when the harassment got to a certain point, I just decided to block this person and sever any means of contact.
The problem though is that this person has well over a dozen accounts on Twitter that they use to stalk and harass people. They’re kind of a professional when it comes to this stuff.
So when a friend tweeted something about this person (who like myself is an expat in Taiwan) profiting by reporting local Taiwanese people for their traffic infractions, I made the mistake of calling them a “tattletale” in a public space.
A few weeks later I received a summons from the police and was informed that I was having a defamation lawsuit filed against me.
So, after speaking with a lawyer about the situation, I compiled a folder full of the history of harassing tweets that this person directed at me. When I arrived at the police station in Taipei, the investigator in charge took a recorded interview and asked questions that allowed me to explain my side of things.
When the camera was turned off, the investigator informed me that I didn’t really have to waste my time preparing the folder full of tweets as this individual was a repeat offender (in terms of filing frivolous lawsuits) and that my being there was just a formality. He went on to explain that we had absolutely nothing to worry about and that this was going no where.
And he was right, the lawsuit was thrown out.
Before that happened though, I had a photo exhibition in Taipei, which I had promoted through this website and on my social media - and wouldn’t you guess it, this person showed up.
So, in front of about fifty friends, this person (who had just filed a lawsuit against me) was just hanging out listening to my awkward speech and (probably) enjoying my photos!
So what did I do? I took a selfie with the back of their head (more on this later)
Unfortunately this wasn’t the only time this has happened.
I’ve had this person stalk me in person on several occasions - even coming all the way Taoyuan to enjoy another of my photo exhibitions.
When the lawsuit was thrown out, you’d think that would have been the end of it, but the ruling was promptly appealed to a higher court. Why? Because apparently *I* was stalking him.
That case was promptly thrown out as well.
This is where things started to get worse.
All of this time I’ve had this person blocked but the number of accounts that they used to stalk me (as well as others in the Taiwan media community) media started growing and (unfortunately) they had a pretty good grasp of Taiwan’s defamation laws. They knew that they could basically say whatever they want as long as they were vague and didn’t use my name.
So, for the past two years I’ve had to endure targeted harassment about my appearance, my nationality, my heritage, where I live, having a dog, writing blogs, my photos, etc. etc. etc.
It has even been put forward that since I studied Mandarin at the prestigious Peking University language school that I shouldn’t be allowed to live in Taiwan as I might be a communist spy.
Schoolyard bully kind of behaviour - Except that this is coming from a 50 year old man.
You might think this is easy enough to ignore, but the area where Twitter fails at protecting its users is that even if you block a person, they are still able to reply to anyone who replies to you. So, even though I’ve had this person blocked for years, they spend all their time scouring Twitter for people who have replied to me just so they can get their digs in.
Fortunately the vast majority of people in the Taiwan Twitter community are well aware of what’s going on and this person and their accounts have become quite infamous.
You might be thinking: Why don’t you just leave Twitter?
I’ve considered that. I’ve actually put quite a bit of thought into it.
But as I mentioned above, I surround myself with people doing great things and a lot of them are posting their work on Twitter - I don’t want to miss out on what they’re doing.
And let’s say I did let this person force me off of Twitter, what would stop them from moving to Facebook, Instagram or anywhere I have an online presence? I can’t just let this person force me to disappear because they have some infantile vendetta.
Its also important to mention that a lot of these cool people that I stay on Twitter for are also being stalked and harassed by the same individual and even though they haven’t had lawsuits filed against them (although many of them have been threatened), they’re more or less in the same boat as I am.
So where have I made mistakes?
Admittedly after a couple of years of this harassment, I thought that if I could only just get this person mad enough to say my name that I could file my own lawsuit with the hope of filing a restraining order. Unfortunately I’m not good at bringing myself down to their level and I wasn’t consistent enough so that never worked.
My mistakes were simple:
I gave this person the attention that they desired.
I brought myself down to their level.
I looked like an asshole in a public space.
What happened as a result of these mistakes was that people who had been harassed by this person in the past started contacting me. They had stories. Scary stories. Things that person did in the country that they lived in before fleeing to Taiwan which proved to me just how absolutely sad a life they live.
They also provided advice on how to cope.
Eventually though I decided to make my Twitter account protected to save myself from the never-ending barrage of sub-tweets. This has protected me for the time being and for the past few months I’ve completely ignored the pathetic existence of this sad individual.
This is why I’m not bothered all that much by their psychological projection - They might be an absolute failure in every aspect of their personal, professional and family life, but it doesn’t mean I need to let them drag me down with them.
I’m just going to keep doing my thing.
Unfortunately the problem is that I’m not their only target and several of my friends also had to deal with daily barrages of stupidity this person, so even though I want nothing to do with this person, people still come to me looking for advice.
After several years of having to deal with this, all I can do is provide people with a list of the accounts I know this person use and offer this advice:
You should never reply to this person. Ignore at all costs.
You should never use their name in a public space.
All harassing tweets and correspondence must be documented.
Cyberbullying
Taiwan’s laws don’t protect victims from stalkers, cyberbullies or serial-harassers.
In 2015, the issue of internet bullying became a topic of national discussion when a local television personality, Cindy Yang (楊又穎) committed suicide. The high-profile young woman, who also happened to be the daughter of the Agriculture Minister, left a note that blamed her coworkers and cyberbullies for her death.
Cindy’s death attracted a certain level of national discourse about the subject, but when the outrage over her untimely death wore off and the media moved on to the next juicy topic, the push for change likewise faded out.
Link: Cindy Yang (楊又穎) | Family confirms entertainer Cindy victimized by online bullying
Sadly, most of the news we see these days with regard to cyberbullying originates in Korea where the angry uncontrollable masses of anonymous people on the internet seem to have figured out that they are able to bully young celebrities into submission. After a string of suicides within the K-pop world, it seems like the government there is finally starting to take the topic of cyberbullying seriously.
Link: Cyber bullying, star suicides: The dark side of South Korea’s K-pop world
South Korea draws up cyberbulling laws after second K-pop suicide
Back here in Taiwan, in the years since Cindy’s untimely death, there have been numerous incidents where celebrities, politicians and others have committed suicide due to the concerted effort of their stalkers.
In 2018 for example, Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), the director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, committed suicide after a barrage of fake news and online hate generated from people in Taiwan over the way his office responded to a typhoon in Japan.
While high-profile cases of cyberbullying often make the news here in Taiwan, what shouldn’t surprise you are the amount of cases that you don’t hear about - especially when it comes to children and youths.
According to studies done on the subject, around 76% percent of youth surveyed in Taiwan have experienced cyberbullying or seen it taking place. Research from the Child Welfare League Foundation (兒童福利聯盟文教基金會) explains that the most common types of cyberbullying in Taiwan are verbal attack (61.1%), defamation (47.7%), alienation (46.1%) and doxing (40.9%). The study also found that over half (53.5%) of the respondents claimed to have been bullied online at some point in their life.
Links: Cyberbullying among Children and Youths in Taiwan - 2016 | “I felt angry, but I couldn’t do anything about it”: a qualitative study of cyberbullying among Taiwanese high school students. | Cabinet Approves Anti-Stalking, Harassment bill (Focus Taiwan)
The unfortunate thing is that the majority of these cases never receive any proper attention from parents, school authorities, the police or the government, so the study found that only around 43% of cases are reported in one way or another.
Adolescents report that most of these cases of online bullying originate on social media which shouldn’t particularly be surprising as Facebook and PTT (a popular forum in Taiwan) are full of so-called ‘Kaobei’ (靠北) pages where people are able to post ‘anonymous’ criticisms of others in a public forum. Likewise there are many “unofficial” school groups throughout social-media where students are able to ostracize each other in a public setting which leads not only to verbal attacks and defamation but isolation, which in an Asian cultural context is probably the worst.
The Department of Education has attempted to address the issue by producing literature and posting it throughout schools to help educate students about the dangers of taking part in cyberbullying, but has so far has failed to come up with proper prevention programs or a system of punishment for those taking part.
The government likewise has yet to respond with any meaningful policy or solution for punishing those who perpetrate such crimes. The only recent response is a laughable suggestion from members of Taiwan’s fringe New Party (新黨) who suggest making use of corporal punishment as a method of punishing cyberbullies.
Link: Taiwan’s New Party suggests caning to stop cyber bullying
As a growing public health concern, if the government doesn’t find a way to offer legal respite to those people being victimized in a timely fashion, the problem is only going to continue and may eventually escalate to a point where it is going to become much more common for the victims of cyberbullying to resort to extreme actions.
2021 Update: Once again, stalking has come to the forefront of the public consciousness with the brutal murder of a young woman in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County (屏東縣) a man who had been stalking her for quite some time, and whom she had already reported to the police, to no avail.
Murder of Pingtung Woman Leads to Calls for Stronger Anti-Stalking Legislation (New Bloom)
Pingtung man accused of killing woman detained (Taipei Times)
Update #2: Due to the above incident, the cabinet has approved a Draft Bill against stalking and harassment that aims to broadening the legal definition of stalking and harassment and allow early intervention by law enforcement officers to protect victims.
Cabinet approves draft bill against stalking, harassment (Focus Taiwan)
2021 Update #2: The case mentioned about gave the government a little extra motivation to actually pass a law that protects people from stalkers. On November 19th, the new “Anti-Stalking Law” (跟蹤騷擾防制法) passed its third reading in the legislature and is scheduled to come into effect within the next six months.
Link: 跟騷法三讀通過！八大騷擾樣態 最重五年徒刑 (UDN)
As it stands, the law defines harassment and stalking as repeated usage of ‘persons, vehicles, tools, equipment, electronic communications, Internet or other methods’ against a specific person that violates their will, affects their daily life or social activities.’
2021 Update #3: President Tsai officially signed the new Anti-Stalking legislation into law on December 1st, and it will come into effect in mid-2022.
Link: New anti-stalking bill signed into law by President Tsai (Focus Taiwan)
2022 Update #1: Excellent news: the National Police Agency is set to establish an emergency response team in preparation for the enactment of the Stalking and Harassment Prevention act that will come into effect on June 1st, 2022. Key take away: “The new law lists eight types of behavior as constituting stalking and harassment, including spying on and trailing, following and approaching, threatening and insulting, and online harassment” which looks like reports of stalking and harassment will be handled seriously.
Link: National Police Agency establishes stalking and harassment response team (Focus Taiwan)
Motivations for Cyberbullying
While the issue of cyberbullying is pervasive here in Taiwan, there hasn’t been as many studies on its causes and effects as there have been in western countries.
A study by the University of Toronto defines bullying and cyberbullying as follows:
Bullying is a form of aggression which can be direct or indirect, and includes hostile physical, verbal, psychological, or relational behaviours towards another person. It is typically intentional, commonly occurring within an existing relationship and including some type of a power imbalance between the individuals involved. The aggressive behaviour is also usually repeated.
Cyberbullying is the use of ICTs to engage in bullying behaviour, including intent to harm, a specific target, and a power imbalance. Involvement in cyberbullying as a perpetrator or as a victim has the potential to significantly affect children and youth’s mental health and well-being. Victimized youth often report feeling sad, anxious, afraid and unable to concentrate, and frequently experience social difficulties. Victimized youth may also be at increased rick for many problematic behaviours, such as substance use and elevated suicidality. Similarly, perpetrators are less likely to show empathy and may struggle with low self-esteem, depression, and problem behaviours.
Despite important similarities to traditional non-ICT bullying, cyberbullying is unique in a number of ways. ICTs enable cyberbullying to occur anytime and anywhere, and victimization can take place beyond the settings where bullying occurs, potentially preventing victims from ever feeling safe. Cyberbullying can be also be more upsetting than bullying, particularly because it is hard to escape. Another key difference is the degree of anonymity involved. Although there is a perception that cyberbullying is completely anonymous, it often is not. It is a common misconception that cyberbullying occurs most often among individuals who do not know one another. Most incidents, however, actually occur among friends or acquaintances, just like bullying. Yet, while the perpetrator and victimized youth typically have some sort of existing relationship, perpetrators might be able to remain anonymous - at least for a period of time. Finally, one of the most devastating effects of cyberbullying is that the far full images and comments can circulate far and wide and for an indefinite period of time. Cyberbullying incidents may involve a limitless number of potential witnesses, perpetuating the negative consequences for the victim. Cyberbullying content is also far more reproducible as text, images and video can be distributed very quickly to a wide audience.
Note: “ICT” (Information and Communication Technologies) refers to modes of mass-communication using the internet and social media.
Link: Motivations for Cyberbullying: A longitudinal and multi-perspective inquiry (University of Toronto)
The key takeaways here are that cyberbullying is ‘persistent’, ‘permanent’ and ‘difficult to regulate’, which is why it has a much more long-lasting effect on people than traditional bullying.
The motivations for this type of behaviour tend to vary from place to place, but here in Taiwan researchers have found that there are many sociocultural characteristics that contribute to the pervasiveness of cyberbullying.
These motivations include: jealousy, discrimination, revenge, punishment and just for fun.
Specific to Taiwan is that cyberbullying generally causes a “sense of isolation, helplessness, or hopelessness even producing mental health effects in the victims because people place the utmost importance on interpersonal harmony due to the Confucian values in collectivistic Asian societies.” (BMC Public Health)
While the focus of many of the studies about the effects of cyberbullying are on children, it goes without saying that it is also pervasive within work culture and almost anywhere you go on social media where anonymity gives people (like my stalker) an outlet for taking out all their anger at the world on others.
Defamation and Public Humiliation Laws in Taiwan
While the government has a lot of work to do in addressing the topic of cyberbullying, there are a couple of laws within the criminal code (刑法) that allow people to file lawsuits against those perpetuating these types of behaviour. The problem however is that these articles are often abused meaning that the burden of proof in any lawsuit that you file needs to really strong.
If you’ve been in Taiwan long enough, you’ve likely seen photos or news stories of politicians posing in front of the court with their hands on a doorbell signifying that they’re getting ready to file a defamation lawsuit of some kind. Freedom House, which gives Taiwan a 9/30 for its ‘Legal Environment’ notes that Taiwan’s defamation laws “are frequently exploited by politicians who wield them against their adversaries within the politically polarized media landscape”. This callous behaviour and rampant misuse of the justice system has led to thousands of frivolous cases filed each year making most people in power feel like the law is a tool for silencing critics with unnecessary court battles.
Generally speaking, what this means is that the articles of the criminal code that are currently in place are somewhat useless with regard to protecting real victims of public humiliation and defamation due to the fact that these cases fail to be prosecuted most of the time.
The other problem, which many legal scholars in Taiwan consider to be “backwards” is that in the year 2000, libel laws started to be prosecuted under the criminal code, rather than the civil code. This is precarious for a number of reasons.
Legal scholar I-Hsien Weng (翁乙仙) on the changes:
“As for insult, most countries do not criminalize it because the concept of insult is too unpredictable, and criminalization would overly interfere with freedom of speech. From my point of view, if we cannot clarify facts and value, libel and insult or the legal interests which criminal defamation law seeks to protect, we will be helpless when handling actual cases. Therefore, if we want to apply criminal defamation law constitutionally, the criminal code must be amended or re-interpreted. Otherwise, we should lay the offence of criminal defamation aside.”
What this essentially means is that if you say something that someone else considers inappropriate, but not actually libelous, you could still be fined and left with a criminal record. Likewise, the real victims are often left with little ability protect themselves as the court systems are jam-packed with frivolous cases. Kelly Warner law Associates, an American law firm with an office in Taipei remarked that the major difference between America and Taiwan is that in America, “public figures, especially officials, receive less protection in defamation cases” while here in Taiwan “courts seems to prefer protecting political officials more than civilians and other public figures.” (Source)
Mossy from Ni Hao’s it Going expanded on these comments in his article about Taiwan’s libel laws: “instead of preventing rich people from abusing the criminal code, the law is now allowing businesses, politicians, and individuals to offset criticism and sue other individuals, businesses, and journalists for openly discussing factual information.”
Link: The Problem of Taiwan’s Libel Laws - How to Avoid Being Sued
What’s worse, if you’re a foreigner in Taiwan, a criminal record could result in difficulty keeping your resident visa and (depending on the severity of the situation) you could ultimately be deported. Likewise, if you’re a tourist and you find yourself in trouble, you may be prevented from leaving the country until the court makes a decision.
So let’s take a look at the two articles of the criminal code that address Public Humiliation and Defamation and what they can do to help you out.
Article 309 Public Humiliation (刑法第309條)
A person who publicly insults another shall be sentenced to short-term imprisonment or a fine of not more than nine thousand yuan.
「公然侮辱人者，處拘役或九千元以下罰金。」
A person who by violence commits an offense (specified in the preceding paragraph) shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than fifteen thousand yuan.
「以強暴犯前項之罪者，處一年以下有期徒刑、拘役或一萬五千元以下罰金」
Article 309 of the Criminal Code is probably the article that applies most to cyberbullying and harassment. The article states that if found guilty, the punishment is short-term imprisonment (up to two years) or a fine of either $9000 to $15,000NT.
While the definition of public insult is a broad term according to the law, what you should keep in mind is that there are a few things to consider when making an accusation of public humiliation, especially with regard to cyberbullying:
They made negative comments directly using your name.
They gave you a nickname and made negative comments.
They spread untrue or unproven information about you.
They posted photos or videos of you that are indecent or doctored.
They held a sort of “poll” online which casts you in a negative light.
Most of this is quite straight forward, but when it comes to nicknames, you have to be able to prove that they’re referring to “you” and not just someone else in general. This can be difficult. The bar is also set pretty low for what constitutes public humiliation, so even if you think you don’t have a case against your bully, its very likely under Taiwan’s laws that you do.
What is important to remember is that if you stand up to a cyberbully/stalker and give them the attention that they’re trying to get by responding, you’re also making the mistake of making yourself liable to become victim of a frivolous lawsuit. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
Article 310 Defamation (刑法310條)
A person who points out or disseminates a fact which will injure the reputation of another for purpose that it be communicated to the pubic commits the offense of slander and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than fifteen thousand yuan.
「意圖散布於眾，而指摘或傳述足以毀損他人名譽之事者，為誹謗罪，處一年以下有期徒刑、拘役或一萬五千元以下罰金。」
A person who by circulating a writing or drawing commits an offense specified in the preceding paragraph shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than two years, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than thirty thousand yuan.
「散布文字、圖畫犯前項之罪者，處二年以下有期徒刑、拘役或三萬元以下罰金。」
A person who can prove the truth of the defamatory fact shall not be punished for the offense of defamation unless the fact concerns private life and is of no public concern.
「對於所誹謗之事，能證明其為真實者，不罰。但涉於私德而與公共利益無關者，不在此限。」
So what all of this means is that if someone is convicted under Article 310 of the Criminal Code is that at maximum you can be sentenced to short-term imprisonment (up to two years) or be forced to pay a fine of $15,000 - $30,000NT.
This goes not only for something you say or do in person, but for anything printed or published online through writing or drawing and includes “spreading untrue statements”, “defaming by composing indecent photos or videos” and “uploading inappropriate or confidential photos or videos to the internet for the purpose of showing others”.
This means that if you’re walking across the crosswalk and some guy comes speeding through in his car and you give them the middle finger, you could have a lawsuit filed against you. Sure, they were in the wrong, they should have yielded to pedestrians. But you hurt their feelings.
It also means that if you get into an argument on social media and (as things usually go on the internet) the conversation devolves into ad hominem attacks, you are also liable to be sued.
The Kelly Warner Law Firm in Taipei notes on their website that “as of June 27, 2011, a Taiwanese blogger, was sentenced to 30 days in detention and ordered to pay NT$200,000 (about $9,000) for allegedly writing a defamatory review about a local restaurant. The blogger wrote that the dish she had ordered was too salty and that there were cockroaches on the restaurant premises. The restaurant refuted these claims, sued, and won their claim.”
Likewise in 2012, “a Taiwanese was convicted in a civil suit for defamation and was ordered to pay $8000 TWD in compensation ($270) for making insulting remarks about her sister-in-law’s breasts, claiming that the sister-in-law did not have any.“ (Source)
Link: The Discussion of Possible Punishments of Cyberbullying in Taiwan and its reflection on Education
Of special interest in the final paragraph is that you can also have a lawsuit filed against you in a civil suit. So, even if you were found innocent (or guilty) in a criminal trial, you may also have to defend yourself in a civil suit, which is considerably more expensive. You may even have to deal with both a criminal and a civil suit at the same time!
In 2018 for example, former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) successfully received a ruling in his favour in a defamation suit against television personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻). The former president simultaneously filed criminal and civil charges against Ms. Chou and demanded NT$ 10,000,000 in compensation as well as an open apology.
When all was said and done, the court ruled that Ms. Chou had to pay NT $1,800,000 in compensation for the civil suit and she was sentences to 50 days in jail.
Link: Ma wins NT$1.8 million in defamation suit against TV pundit (Focus Taiwan)
Civil suits however are quite expensive and unlike criminal suits, if you file frivolous charges against someone, you won’t be punished for wasting the time of the person(s) you’ve sued or the investigators who are required by law to follow through on any complaint. In fact, in a civil court proceeding, the plaintiff is required to advance the court fees, which are calculated based on the value of the claim in addition to their own attorneys fees.
This typically causes most people to stop and think about how far they’re willing to go.
Civil Code Article 184 (民法184條)
「因故意或過失，不法侵害他人之權利者，負損害賠償責任。故意以背於善良風俗之方法，加損害於他人者亦同。」
A person who, intentionally or negligently, has wrongfully damaged the rights of another is bound to compensate him for any injury arising therefrom. The same rule shall be applied when the injury is done intentionally in a manner against the rules of morals.
「違反保護他人之法律，致生損害於他人者，負賠償責任。但能證明其行為無過失者，不在此限。」
A person, who violates a statutory provision enacted for the protection of others and therefore prejudice to others, is bound to compensate for the injury, except no negligence in his act can be proved.
Civil Code Article 195 (民法195條)
「不法侵害他人之身體、健康、名譽、自由、信用、隱私、貞操，或不法侵害其他人格法益而情節重大者，被害人雖非財產上之損害，亦得請求賠償相當之金額。其名譽被侵害者，並得請求回復名譽之適當處分。」
If a person has wrongfully damaged to the body, health, reputation, liberty, credit, privacy or chastity of another, or to another's personality in a severe way, the injured person may claim a reasonable compensation in money even if such injury is not a purely pecuniary loss. If it was reputation that has been damaged, the injured person may also claim the taking of proper measures for the rehabilitation of his reputation.
「前項請求權，不得讓與或繼承。但以金額賠償之請求權已依契約承諾，或已起訴者，不在此限。前二項規定，於不法侵害他人基於父、母、子、女或配偶關係之身分法益而情節重大者，準用之。」
The claim of the preceding paragraph shall not be transferred or inherited, except a claim for compensation in money has been promised by contract or has been commenced.
The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs shall be ‘mutatis mutandis’ applied when a person has wrongfully damaged to another's status based on the relationship to their father, mother, sons, daughters, or spouse in a severe way.
Protecting Yourself
First and foremost, if you have any questions or need any legal advice, feel free to contact the good people at the Taiwan Legal Aid Foundation. It never hurts to ask.
Unfortunately the Taiwanese justice system currently offers very little protection for victims of cyberbullying, stalking and harassment from further victimization.
Restraining orders aren’t really a thing here, so unfortunately (especially for women) the sad reality is that the only way that you can get justice from these individuals is after they’ve either put you in the hospital or worse, killed you.
So, with this in mind, what can you do to avoid cyberbullies?
Official literature suggests that you “Develop a high EQ”
From my personal experience, I can attest that there is some wisdom to this suggestion.
One of the most difficult lessons to learn in life is self-control and it is completely understandable and natural that when you’re being attacked that you defend yourself.
It might however be healthier to just bite your lip. I know it is easier said than done, but instead of replying in the heat of the moment, take some time to cool off and think about the shit storm you’re about to insert yourself into and whether or not it is worth it.
People who actively take part in cyberbullying thrive off of the attention they receive from the people they attack. If you respond to these people, you’re showing them that you’re fair game and that their attempts to get a rise out of you have been successful. This stimulates their aggressive nature and gives them more incentive to continue what they’re doing.
And yeah, even though you might think I’m crazy to suggest this, you should probably feel a bit of empathy for these people. It is important to realize that those who make a habit out of bullying others online are doing so because they are going through a difficult time and need help and support themselves. Happy and secure people don’t bully others, so there is obviously something wrong with their lives that has made them become like this.
Don’t Respond
If someone attacks you on the internet, it’s better to not even bother responding to them. Don’t retaliate, don’t feed the troll and don’t bring yourself down to their level by responding to their attacks with attacks of your own. Don’t bring yourself down to their level.
Block and Report
If you feel like someone is targeting you with persistent attacks, just block them. Remove whatever access they have to you and that should remove the problem.
And hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you report them as well? Every social media platform offers users the option of reporting abusive behaviour, so if you opt to report, you could be saving others from abuse as well. Likewise if the person attacking you is a classmate or co-worker, find the appropriate authority to report the behaviour.
Screenshot Everything
For your own protection, it is important to learn how to take screenshots on whatever device you’re using. It is a good idea to keep a record of any or all comments that your bully sends your way. Comments on social media are easily edited or deleted, so if you have a record of the abuse, you may be able to make a case with the authorities.
Control your Privacy
Controlling your Privacy Settings on social media is always a good practice - even if you haven’t attracted the attention of a cyberbully. Social media is a useful tool, but if you want to protect yourself, it is important to understand the privacy settings offered by each of the platforms you use.
As I mentioned above, it’s important to block these people, but if you have an open account on Twitter for example, even if you block them, they can still see everything you post. So, you may want to consider having a “protected” account. Controlling your privacy settings as well as your friends/followers list and curating your feeds are all useful in defending yourself.
In my personal experience, having a protected account has helped to reduce the amount of harassment I’ve received from this person. Has it stopped completely? No. They still try hard to get my attention, but they’re not getting it.
Control Yourself
When someone is attacking you, like I said, it’s better not to respond. You’ll see other sites on the internet that discuss cyberbullying giving suggestions like: “Make a 30 second rule” or “Put down your phone, go for a walk and then reply later.” How about instead, learning some self control?
Don’t respond.
Don’t check for updates.
Don’t re-read the comments over and over again.
Take a break from the internet.
Learn how to manage your stress in a positive way.
There are many other positive things that you can do with your time - Spending all day arguing and defending yourself on the internet certainly isn’t one of them, so if you can, control yourself.
Talk with Friends
When you’re being bullied, having people around you who you can turn to for support is really important. If you have the ability to reach out to others to discuss the problems that you’re having, you will have a much easier time processing what’s happening which should in turn ease your stress and boost your self-confidence.
Talk to your friends, your family, teachers or anyone you feel comfortable discussing your situation with.
Don’t internalize bullying and harassment, find someone who can support you and tell them your story.
It also helps that other people know about your situation if something extreme happens.
In the early days, we were idealistic and figured that the internet would be the tool that could bring us together as a global community and that all of the petty differences that divided us in the past would magically disappear. Unfortunately, even though the internet has changed so much about our lives in a positive way, it hasn’t been that magical tool that brings us together in the way that we imagined. In fact, society today is just as divided as it has ever been and the internet has become a tool for hateful individuals to spread their negativity on a global stage.
I sincerely hope that at some point we figure out how to use this amazing tool in a responsible and positive way, but until then, it is important that you know how to protect yourself from the predators that are lurking throughout the web.
I also hope that the Taiwanese government properly addresses the growing epidemic of harassment and cyberbullying and makes sensible changes to the existing laws to protect victims.
Until then, try to protect yourself, treat others with respect and try your best to make your online experience a positive one.
And remember, Don’t feed the trolls.
