I’m being stalked or harassed online — what now?
Document, don’t engage, cut the access, report the pattern. Stalking is prosecuted as a pattern — your evidence file is what turns “annoying messages” into a case. On any concrete threat: emergency services, now.
- Safety first, alwaysA concrete threat to visit, hurt or expose you = call the police emergency line immediately, not tomorrow. Everything below assumes you are not in acute danger.
- Build the evidence file before blockingScreenshots with handles, URLs, dates; export chat histories; save voicemails. Stalking is prosecuted as a PATTERN — courts need the sequence, not one message. Keep a simple log (date, channel, what happened).
- Cut the access, layer by layerBlock on every platform (after capturing evidence), tighten who-can-contact and who-can-see settings, new accounts get blocked on sight without engagement — any reply, even angry, feeds the loop. Check devices and accounts for stalkerware and shared-location leftovers, especially after a breakup: the tracking guide shows where to look.
- Report the pattern, not just postsPlatform harassment reports with the pattern documented; most escalate repeat-offender reports differently than single-message flags. New accounts evading blocks: report as ban evasion — platforms act on this faster.
- Involve the police as a pattern crimeStalking/harassment is criminal across our 33 countries, and the EU violence-against-women directive pushes cyber-stalking prosecution further. Bring the file, name the pattern, ask for the case number — it unlocks platform data preservation and protective measures.
- Use the privacy layer to shrink the attack surfaceDoxxed details: the doxxing flow. Old accounts leaking your info: erasure requests. Your address findable via registers or people-search sites: dry those up — the who-has-my-data sweep shows how.
Two principles carry this. No engagement: stalkers metabolise attention — responses, arguments, even “stop” messages after the first documented one. One formal “do not contact me again” (keep a copy), then silence plus evidence. Pattern beats incident: every report — platform or police — lands harder when you attach the log. If the stalker is an ex or someone with legal ties to you (shared lease, child), get victim-support or legal-aid help early; those services exist in every country and know the protective-order routes. You do not have to manage this alone, and the boring evidence folder is the single most powerful thing you control.
Verified against the sources above on 18 July 2026. Information, not legal advice.