The social, legal, and technical perspectives of cyberstalking in India

Abstract

Cyberstalking is a consequence of the worldwide growth in the use of internet-enabled information and communication technology (ICT) services and devices, especially the indiscriminate and unhindered use of the products and services of social media sites, channels, and apps. This cybercrime has had a severe impact on the psychological and physiological states of millions of innocent victims and is a major social and legal concern. Society is still discovering ways to effectively address cyberstalking, especially in countries such as India, where IT-based technologies and services are comparatively better developed due to the country’s strong talent pool and expertise. This study explores the social, technical, and legal perspectives on cyberstalking in India. Although cyberstalking is a global phenomenon, in the Indian context it has received limited attention in both academic and social research fields. From the Indian perspective, the research gaps result from poor sociocultural perception, perpetual ignorance, and cultural conflict among the victims and their family members; poor perception, inadequate legislation, and late reaction from the legal authorities; and technological limitations to identifying perpetrators. The objectives of this research were to examine Indian victims’ perceptions of cyberstalking in their prevailing socio-cultural setting; examine the impacts of cyberstalking; understand the perceptions of legal enforcement authorities and identify inadequacies of the Indian legal system; understand the role of technology in preventing cyberstalking; draw a comparison between India, the United States, and the UK; and suggest improvement measures. Following a grounded theory synthesis, this study used a victim questionnaire, individual victim’s testimonials, and thematic expert interviews as the primary data collection tools together with an exploratory literature review to achieve the research objectives and answer the research questions. An extensive review of the literature on the subject was conducted to analyse and identify gaps in the research to formulate the research questions according to the objectives of the study and to frame the research strategy with tools. Accordingly, a Likert scale survey, which had 260 samples associated with cyberstalking, was conducted to understand the following: the social media environment and cases of cyberstalking, the victims’ perceptions based on their experiences in the online environment, the victims’ experiences of dealing with the police and the legal system, the responses, and attitudes of the victims’ families while they were pursuing their cases, and the outcomes. The research also delved into specific cases of cyberstalking to understand the genesis, development, and outcomes of such incidents. To further understand the causative factors and dynamics of cyberstalking and its outcomes, an expert opinion was sought from select experts from the technological, social, and police/legal justice systems. The analysis included quantitative analysis of the survey data with statistical tools such as percentage analysis, comparative analysis, and correlation coefficient analysis using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software to gather insights about the internet and the social media environment. Next, the perceptions of victims gathered via the Likert scale method were analysed using content analysis and comparative analysis techniques. The third stage included an analysis of expert inputs using thematic analysis and content analysis backed by software-based output using NVivo software. From the sociocultural perspective, the accumulated findings from the literature review, victim surveys, victim case studies, thematic analyses of interviews with experts and victims, and semiotic analyses of victim case studies suggested issues and concerns, primarily secondary victimisation from family and friends. The primary study results pertaining to the case testimonials and the thematic interviews suggest that secondary victimisation by family members’ and relatives’ reactions to cyberstalking are determined by the social and cultural responses that may happen if such incidents occur in the real world. In Indian society and culture, family prestige and standing have more value than an individual’s choice or preference. The family, extended family, and social environment are integral parts of life. However, in most cases of cyberstalking, the support system does not provide the required support, as there is a gap in the parents’ and family support groups’ understanding of the context of the cyberstalking. In India, the flawed sociocultural mindset and inadequate legislation often result in secondary victimisation. Factors such as poor social and cultural perceptions of the victims and their family/relatives, general and cultural ignorance, and false family prestige permeate the crime and its implications for victims’ psychological and physiological states. Cyberstalking can even result in victims being punished and harassed further by family members. As a result, the number of formal legal complaints and cases remains low compared to the actual number of incidents. Often, the cyberstalking incidents change victims’ lives permanently. The impact on victims is particularly severe due to secondary victimisation. As per the findings from the legal and technical perspectives, factors such as poor social perception of the crime, cultural conflict and ignorance, the subjective characteristics and habits of the victims, the freedom and remoteness of internet technology, and the inadequacy of cyber-legislation to preventing and to penalise cyberstalking have all facilitated the proliferation of cyberstalking in India. Hence, from the Indian perspective, the research gaps are threefold: social, legal, and technical. From a social perspective, the factors are general lack of understanding, cultural conflict, and perceptual ignorance on the parts of the victims and their family members. From a legal perspective, compared to developed countries like the United States and the UK, the law is inadequate to prevent cyberstalking, and from a technical perspective, technology plays the dual role of facilitator and preventer of cyberstalking.

This study validates the findings, and recommendations based on Stamper’s semiotic framework are given. In addition, a framework for regulating cyberstalking across the six layers of the semiotic framework is suggested.