Cyber shark

New age phisherman

Give a man a rod and he’ll go fishing….give a man a computer and he’ll go phishing online. The former at least gets you communing with nature but the latter will greatly increase your mental pollution.

Cyberland is a daunting labyrinth of games, chat rooms, facebooking, emailing, web albums, podcasts, skypeing , twittering and wittering. It’s a jungle out there and without monitoring, discipline and intelligence you could find yourself in uncharted territory or up the creek minus a surf board.

Cyber-abuse is now the weapon of choice for predators who wish to terrorise their fellow man and woman. Sadly its women who bear the brunt of this new kind of intimidation.

Stalking is not a new phenomena. Before, a man would have to dress up in a dirty old raincoat and harrass random women that he came across in bars, shops, buses and other public areas. Since the advent of the internet, men don’t have to venture out into the cold air, they only have to log in.

Social media freak

Men have a pre-disposition to aggressive behaviour – part genetic, part learned – and their libido allows them to indulge in hooliganism, religious wars and domestic violence. It’s staggering to think that all men are born equal but not so equal to women!

Men just can’t help putting their brute strength and weak mind (aka devil’s workshop) to poor use. They surf and download unsavoury images. They sometimes coerce their girlfriends into allowing themselves to be filmed in a number of intimate poses. They Skype every night on the pretext of sharing their evening together but this turns into a subtle form of control. The man is insecure and doesn’t allow his girlfriend to spend any time fully alone.

This is social network stalking and Ruth Jeffrey was the victim of this vicious abuse at the hands of her boyfriend no less. He forwarded her photo to a number of adult sites and her face was superimposed on to models in risqué poses. He hacked into her email account and sent malicious messages to friends.

This is someone she had known since the age of 12. She had so much trust and confidence that she never suspected she was sleeping with the enemy. He was comforting and reassuring during moments of distress.

If you lie with dogs you'll only get fleas

This sexual manipulation went on until her parents had to be told. Her father managed to successfully trace the originator which lead him to a company registered in California in the name of the said boyfriend.

Following a successful prosecution the sentencing was a paltry four months. It appears that harassment and emotional abuse are still not crimes that are recognised by the justice system.

Anyone who’s been on the receiving end of abuse knows how debilitating it is and the scars may fade over time but victims never truly heal. Your confidence and trust has been stolen, your faith near destroyed and your self-esteem shattered.



Watch the birdie!

Virtual criminality does not come with a punishment that deters re-offending. That's still a work in progress in law making.

To safeguard yourself, the best way is to not indulge in too much social media or if you need to then do it under a pseudonym. 

Don’t upload photos on Facebook and waste time with inane chatting. Better still, why not get some fresh air, detoxify your mental space and become a social media minimalist?!