Cyberlocking

What is cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet in order to communicate online with children and manipulate them with criminal intentions.

When is cyberstalking punishable?

Punishability of cyberbullying

Cyber solicitation is punishable under Article 433bis/1 Criminal Code if the following conditions are met

• The offender must be of age
• The victim must be a minor (under 18 years of age)
• Information and communication technologies should be used
• The perpetrator communicates with the victim to facilitate the commission of a crime or wrongdoing against the victim
• The perpetrator (i) either concealed or lied about their identity, age and capacity, (ii) emphasized the discretion to be observed about their conversations, (iii) offered or pretended any gift or benefit, (iv) or employed any other ruse.

Discussion points cyberbullying

The underage and decoy adolescents

Cyberlokking occurs only if the perpetrator communicates with a person apparently or presumably under the age of 18. Cyberlokking continues to exist even if the perpetrator believed that his victim was of age; only an insurmountable error in the matter can void criminality.

In the explanatory statement of the law, specific attention was given to detection techniques in cyber solicitation. For example, it was explicitly noted that even those who think they are communicating with a minor are punishable. The legislature wanted to allow the use of a so-called "decoy".

In the latter, it is important to emphasize that provocation of crimes is prohibited. Provocation occurs when the perpetrator's intention to commit a crime was directly created or reinforced or confirmed while seeking to end it, through the intervention of a police officer or a third party acting at the express request of a police officer.

There will be no provocation only when the police action has merely been limited to creating an opportunity for a potential offender to commit a criminal offense in such circumstances that the police can determine its execution. In this sense, it can be said that a police officer can go on the Internet with a modified profile and pretend to be a minor. However, he will have to exercise restraint and thus may not initiate contact himself; he himself may not make sexual or otherwise criminal allusions and merely respond to the offender's communications; in any case, the offender must always have the free will to abandon the intention to commit the crime at any time.

Communications

For cyberstalking to occur, the perpetrator must have had a time-spread series of contacts with the victim.

A single communicative act is not enough.

Applied techniques

The perpetrator must have used one of the following techniques:

• concealing one's identity, age and capacity or lying about it: the anonymity of the Internet makes it a popular tool among cybercrooks
• emphasizing discretion about their conversations: "can you keep a secret?"
• offering or foretelling gifts or benefits: e.g., phone credit
• employing any other ruse: such as pressuring the victim with the dissemination of previously obtained sexual images or forwarding "innocent" sex dolls to make an assessment of the potential victim's sexual knowledge

Criminal intentions

This should include not only Internet manipulation by an offender with sexual criminal intentions, but also non-sexual criminal purposes such as kidnapping, physical aggression, incitement to hatred, terrorist recruitment, sectarian recruitment, misuse of personal data, etc.

Meeting

Cyber solicitation does not require that contacts via information and communication technologies result in a proposal to meet.

Indeed, many crimes can be committed using the Internet without ever having an actual encounter between the minor and the adult manipulating her or him.

What is the penalty for cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years.