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I think the problem is that people aren't necessarily logical or rational about such things. I know someone (family friend) who was the victim of similar harass

I think the problem is that people aren't necessarily logical or rational about such things. I know someone (family friend) who was the victim of similar harassment with (clearly) photoshopped images being sent anonymously to her work, family, friends on social media. The fact that they were fake didn't diminish the humiliation or stress she went through and I don't think she ever really recovered from the trauma of having some anonymous asshole harassing and stalking her and her family online. It eventually stopped but she was afraid of it starting again for a long time. "It's fake" isn't much of a comfort to someone being harassed and being afraid of harassment escalating in one way or another. And it getting easier and easier for crazy people to do this with less and less effort doesn't help the issue at all regardless of what laws are passed. Finding better ways to deal with these people is a good thing but enabling them to make it easier isn't, in my opinion. I think for a lot of people it's easy to die on the hill of technological progress and freedom at any cost when the consequences haven't happened to you or a loved one.

ryandrake 2y ago
We definitely need to crack down more on harassment and stalking and not worry so much about what form that harassment and stalking takes. It's insane that you can have someone all over you, sending you unwanted messages, following you, or generally targeting you with misery that falls short of physical assault, and the police won't do anything about it until you're physically hurt. It shouldn't matter if the harassment is phone calls at 4AM or deepfakes. Harassment is harassment.
- ultimafan 2y ago
  I agree. But the internet age feels like it unfortunately has made this much more difficult than it should be. People over share on social media and make themselves too visible because they aren't aware of the consequences- or don't assume there are people out there sociopathic enough to harass someone to that extent. The pool of potential suspects when they're acting anonymously has grown from whoever is in your local community to whoever has an internet connection in the world. Not uncommon to hear of such harassment, blackmailing cases and such where the perpetrator doesn't even live in your own country where police could do anything about it even if they had their name and real evidence.

ryandrake 2y ago

We definitely need to crack down more on harassment and stalking and not worry so much about what form that harassment and stalking takes. It's insane that you can have someone all over you, sending you unwanted messages, following you, or generally targeting you with misery that falls short of physical assault, and the police won't do anything about it until you're physically hurt. It shouldn't matter if the harassment is phone calls at 4AM or deepfakes. Harassment is harassment.

ultimafan 2y ago
I agree. But the internet age feels like it unfortunately has made this much more difficult than it should be. People over share on social media and make themselves too visible because they aren't aware of the consequences- or don't assume there are people out there sociopathic enough to harass someone to that extent. The pool of potential suspects when they're acting anonymously has grown from whoever is in your local community to whoever has an internet connection in the world. Not uncommon to hear of such harassment, blackmailing cases and such where the perpetrator doesn't even live in your own country where police could do anything about it even if they had their name and real evidence.