cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is a form of stalking carried out digitally — that is, systematic and persistent contact, surveillance or harassment of a person through digital means such as social media, email, text messages or other online platforms. It differs from physical stalking in that the perpetrator does not need to be in the same room or city as the victim; the pursuit takes place through screens and networks, but can be experienced as equally intrusive and frightening. In a true-crime context, the term typically covers patterns in which a person systematically sends unwanted messages, creates fake profiles, impersonates the victim, shares personal information without consent, or uses digital channels to control and intimidate. Cases such as the Matthew Hardy case illustrate how cyberstalking can escalate over years and affect several victims at once, while those affected often find it difficult to prove the scale of it to the outside world.

Under Danish law, cyberstalking is not a separate criminal category, but the conduct is governed by the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven) § 242, which criminalises systematic and persistent contact, pursuit or other harassment capable of violating a person's peace. The provision is technology-neutral, meaning it applies regardless of whether the harassment takes place physically or digitally. Violation is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years.

The central legal criterion is the pattern — not the individual act. A single message is as a starting point not stalking, but repeated unwanted approaches over time that collectively violate the victim's peace may meet the conditions of the provision. In practice, digital traces such as screenshots, log files and metadata are used as documentation in cases of this type.