Increase in apprehended violence orders taken out for cyber bullying on sites such as Facebook. Picture: AP Photo/Toby Talbot
YOUNG people are taking out restraining orders against stalkers on Facebook, claiming they are victims of intimidation.
Lawyers say there has been a rise in apprehended violence orders taken out for cyber bullying in the past two years.
Australian Criminal Law Specialists' principal solicitor Nick Boyden said this sort of behaviour could happen through a combination of mediums such as Facebook or Twitter and phone texting.
William Vahl of North Shore Criminal Law said he had seen an increase in clients asking for AVOs against cyber bullies.
"It's opened up a whole new area and manner in which people are stalked and harassed," Mr Vahl said.
Victims were often intimidated through threats written on their sites or by text while others had their sites hacked and information stolen which was then used against them.
One lawyer, who declined to be named to protect his client's identity, said he represented a man who hacked into a woman's page and accessed her personal information.
"She took out the AVO because he was stalking her and texting her telling her about the personal information that he had," he said. "She figured out who it was because he was coming back and using the information against her."
Another lawyer, who also asked not to be named, said they represented a police officer who took out an AVO after being cyber-stalked.
"He accepted the friendship of a woman. They'd never met but it turned into a 'Fatal Attraction' situation," the lawyer said.
"It got weird and she started sending him abusive messages which led to him taking an AVO out against her. Mr Vahl said AVOs relating to cyber-bullying were hard to enforce.
"They are governed under NSW law so they are hard to enforce against people who are bullying or stalking over the internet from interstate or overseas," he said.
"They could be anywhere, so it is hard to stop."