How to Combat Cyberbullying During a Massachusetts Divorce?

With the proliferation of social media communication, location-tracking apps, advanced hacking techniques, and spyware, protecting your privacy can be a challenge. Technology has made it easier than ever before for people to monitor your moves remotely or get unauthorized access to your records and communication without revealing their identity. While it can be a problem under any circumstance, it can be particularly complicated during a divorce.

Data shows that a large number of separated and divorced individuals in Massachusetts are victims of cyberstalking and cyberbullying. Being stalked, harassed, and bullied by your spouse can not only make the divorce process more stressful, but also shift the balance of power in their favor and affect the outcome of your case.

If you suspect that your spouse is cyberstalking you or if you are being cyberbullied by your spouse, it is important to seek legal help right away. At Davis Law Group, we have extensive experience in handling fault as well as no-fault divorce cases in Massachusetts.

Led by seasoned family law attorney Jay Davis, our legal team is aware of the cyberstalking and cyberbullying issues that might come up during a divorce case and we know how to resolve those issues and protect your privacy and rights. Contact us today for a free consultation with one of our prolific and reliable Massachusetts divorce lawyers — someone who has been through the legal battlefields before and knows what it takes to handle that type of legal intensity.

Difference Between Cyberstalking and Cyberbullying

Cyberstalking involves stalking, spying on, and harassing someone online. Cyberbullying, on the other hand, involves abusing, threatening, and bullying someone online. In practical terms, the line between cyberstalking and cyberbullying is very thin, since many cyberstalkers tend to bully their victims using the information they have.

The most common forms of cyberbullying include:

• Sending hostile, abusive, vulgar, or threatening messages through emails, text messages, online chats, or by commenting on social media
• Making false allegations that are derogatory or vulgar in nature (allegations of extramarital affairs, substance abuse, child neglect or abuse, and so on)
• Posting embarrassing personal details on public forums
• Creating fake profiles to stalk, harass, or bully you
• Posting deepfake photos and videos or revenge porn videos online

The primary goal of cyberstalking and cyberbullying is to create a hostile environment and to cause you mental and emotional damage. In the context of a divorce, your spouse might use it as a tactic to coerce you into agreeing to something you would not have agreed to otherwise — it could be spousal support, marital property division, child custody, visitation, child support, or any other related family law issue.

Getting stalked or bullied by your spouse while going through a divorce can be an intimidating and traumatizing experience. During this difficult time, the leading Massachusetts divorce attorney Jay Davis at Davis Law Group can fight to protect your rights, provide you with the best legal advice you need, and make sure that the other side’s aggressive or hostile actions do not affect the outcome of your case and your life.

How to Deal with Cyberbullying Before or During a Massachusetts Divorce?

To begin with, you should calmly tell your spouse to stop their attempts to cyberbully you and warn them that you will take legal action against them if they persist. In addition, you must take a few important steps to protect yourself in this situation. These include:

• Block your spouse’s access to all your social media accounts, online chats, mobile apps, email, cell phone, and change your passwords.
• Set all your social media accounts to private.
• Save all the abusive or threatening messages, comments, and emails that your spouse still sends you through any means.
• Reach out to Davis Law Group for trusted guidance and support, and understand your legal rights and options in this situation.
• If your spouse has installed spyware on your phone to illegally access your private information and record your conversations or if they have installed a location tracker in your vehicle without your knowledge, our legal team at Davis Law Group can take appropriate action against them.
• Depending on the circumstances, your spouse’s actions related to cyberbullying could be considered criminal harassment, which is a criminal offense punishable by fine and imprisonment under Massachusetts law.
• Do not give in to your spouse’s intimidation tactics and make any decision that you might regret later. Remember that the outcome of your divorce case will not only impact you, but your children as well. Follow our legal team’s advice and make decisions keeping in mind your own as well as your children’s long term interests.

Get Legal Help from Trusted and Proven Divorce Lawyers in Massachusetts

At Davis Law Group, we know that going through a divorce can be extremely painful even under the best of circumstances. If your spouse resorts to unacceptable tactics like cyberbullying to intimidate you, it can complicate things a lot more.

Top-rated Massachusetts divorce lawyer Jay Davis has extensive experience in successfully handling all types of divorce and family law cases. We can protect your rights as an ex-spouse and as a parent, protect your privacy, provide you with the right legal support, and make sure your spouse’s actions do not harm your case in any way.

Call us today at (617) 752-6216 or get in touch with us online to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our skilled Massachusetts divorce attorneys.