The idea of ‘Facebook stalking’ is jokingly used by teenagers to explain looking at different user’s information.  This term would not appear from nowhere.  Facebook permits unprecedented use of communication and personal information, and has thus come to be a platform for a crazy and online knowledgeable to stalk unsuspecting targets.

Stalking is generally believed to involve patterns of behaviour through which one individual frequently inflicts unwanted communications and intrusions on another.  This is a much larger concern than authorities have previously been prepared to accept.  The British Crime Survey, carried out through the Home Office, found that at present 9% of men and 19% of woman have been impacted by stalking.  A huge percentage of the population has been affected by stalking of some kind.

Given the pervasive nature of the stalking situation, the regulations concerning are more vague and inadequate compared to one may possibly otherwise imagine.  In reality the only real legislation which have to do with stalking is the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act, which as you might guess relates much more to harassment as compared to stalking.  Law firms in London as well as beyond have long argued whether or not this law relates to stalking or not.

Afua Hirsch, in her own blog with the Guardian, makes an exceptional point: the issue with stalking runs much deeper than whether or not one law or another identifies stalking.  Rather the root issue is that “there is no legal definition”.

The lack of legal definition probably comes from the truth that almost any act might be regarded as stalking in the correct context.  Leaving chocolates on the doorstep of any romantic interest that does reciprocate how you feel is more pathetic than creepy.  Leaving chocolates on that person’s doorstep each day is creepy.  Possibly laws prohibiting stalking ought to concentrate more on the universal, contextual elements that all acts of stalking share, as opposed to trying to define particular steps as stalking.

Try and stop web stalking gets much more complicated.  Can on-line criticism of or undesired communication with a corporation or institution count as stalking?  Ideally not, however laws managing online stalking should be prepared very carefully, to ensure that companies and institutions can’t abuse them to silence genuine criticism.

If you’re being stalked, the BBC recommends contacting the police along with a very good  solicitor in London or elsewhere.  Given how confusing and inadequate the current laws associated with stalking tend to be, an individual could need one.