CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

of households using Facebook in the US identified
safety issues last year, ranging from someone
using their log-in without permission to being
harassed or threatened. This increase translates
into 7 million affected households— a 30 per cent
increase over the previous year. 84
• In addition, 5.6 million underage kids have
Facebook accounts and 800,000 minors reported
to have been harassed or subjected to other forms
of cyberbullying on Facebook. 85 Facebook currently
bans users under 13 from joining the social
network.
• In one case in September 2012, a California
lawyer had his Facebook account hacked. The
perpetrator inserted pornographic language into
the fake profile and sent vulgar sexual messages
daily to the man’s friends, family, and business
colleagues. It took more than a month to resolve
the issues. In contrast, when private photos of
Mark Zuckerberg were posted to Imgur, a photosharing
site – the flaw was fixed in a day.
The Internet/cyber industry can also sign up to a code of
practice framed within Corporate Social Responsibility. In
a survey of the UK’s ten leading ISPs, seven had posted
CSR reports and policies on their websites with the
majority of these focusing on sage and responsible use. 86
The UK’s 2008 Byron Review advocates for an industry
role in making the Internet a safer place for children
stating: “We need a shared culture of responsibility with
families, industry, government and others in the public and
third sectors all playing their part to reduce the availability
of potential harmful material, restrict access to it by
children and to increase children’s resilience.”
Highlights on Internet intermediary liability: The South
African, Nova Scotian and New Zealand legislation
all reflect the increasing need for Internet and
communications intermediaries to play a role in preventing
and rectifying [technology-related] violence, harassment
and bullying. The legislation in these three jurisdictions
recognises that electronic communications often facilitate
anonymity, which can be a barrier to accessing justice
for violence against women online. It therefore places
a burden on electronic service providers to respond to
requests for information about the identity of the harasser
(in South Africa and Nova Scotia), to cease providing
service upon the order of a court (in Nova Scotia) and
even to remove offensive content when service providers
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