With no law to stop them, some cyberbullies resume their old ways
Some cyberbullies who were stopped following intervention by the province's CyberSCAN unit have resumed their activities in the 16 months since Nova Scotia's Cyber-Safety Act was quashed by the courts, according to the head of the team.
The unit, tasked with investigating cyberbullying complaints on behalf of Nova Scotia's Department of Justice, lost its ability to investigate the moment a judge struck down the legislation in 2015, following a charter challenge.
That has left a void, and some cyberbullies are taking advantage, CyberSCAN director Roger Merrick told CBC Nova Scotia's Information Morning.
Under the old legislation, the unit was able to pursue cyberbullying cases through the courts as civil matters and get court orders to compel the perpetrators to stop.
But in some cases, "once we lost our legislation, the respondents began their actions again," Merrick said.
Cases in limbo
Merrick said his unit had 20 open files when the legislation was pulled, and those cases are now in limbo.
The complainants were advised that the CyberSCAN unit could no longer help them, and in cases where criminal activity might have taken place, they were advised to call police.
At that point, the CyberSCAN unit shifted its focus to public education.
Merrick said his staff of four have done more than 900 public presentations since 2013, focussed primarily on how to protect oneself, and the negative impact of cyberbullying.
"We've been able to reach thousands of school students in Nova Scotia," he said.
Adults targeted too
While many of the cyberbullying cases Merrick's unit investigated involved teenagers, "a large portion" of the complainants were adults, he said, including 117 files that were "domestic in nature."
"It was just real harmful attacks against individuals," Merrick said. "They were former partners that were attacking the former partner online."
"Pretty nasty stuff," he added.
Hopes for new legislation
Last fall, Nova Scotia Justice Minister Diana Whalen said department staff were working to craft a new Cyber-Safety Act, but it wouldn't be ready before this spring, at the earliest.
A spokesperson from the department, Sarah Gillis, was not able to give a delivery date for the new law. She simply confirmed by email that "work is underway."
Merrick said he hopes the new law will continue to allow his team to conduct informal resolutions, outside of the courts.
Of the 820 cases the CyberSCAN unit has investigated, 276 were resolved informally, he said.
"We were able to bring a lot of these cases to closure by getting parties together," he said, "explaining the harmful effects that these behaviours were causing."
