Cyberbullying is nothing more than virtual bullying, that is, bullying that is committed through the Internet. As a compatriot author wrote, although the means may be intangible, the harassment that his victim suffers is completely tangible. The mistreatment is real and the consequences palpable: read fear, insecurity and depression, not to mention suicide (in Uruguay, it is estimated that bullying is the determining cause of suicide for approximately 20% of young people between 15 and 29 years of age).
From the legal point of view, the question is whether the Law has anything to say on the subject, that is, what is the reaction of the Law to this challenge.
We believe that the Law has what it has to say to us, both in the civil and criminal spheres. The Civil Code establishes that anyone who causes damage to another imposes on the person through whose willful misconduct, fault or negligence it has occurred, the obligation to repair it. And in criminal matters, the Penal Code contains a series of figures that, depending on the circumstances and the results, could eventually typify the respective crimes: this is the case of the crimes of libel, private violence, threats or determination or assistance to suicide.
Naturally, any liability that is claimed will require proof, which is especially difficult when it comes to demonstrating the causal link, that is, the cause-effect relationship between cyberbullying and the consequences it produced.
Perhaps to contemplate these difficulties, in 2021 a bill on computer crimes was submitted to the national parliament which, among others, enshrined as a crime the so-called stalcking or telematic harassment.
For any questions regarding this material, please contact Proc. Sebastián González (legal2@bergsteinlaw.com) and/or Dr. Leonardo Melos (lmelos@bergsteinlaw.com).
