Legal options

In particularly serious cases, legal measures may also be considered by a lawyer. It is important that evidence be secured, e.g. by taking screenshots or saving emails, chat logs, etc.

Cyberbullying in itself does not constitute a criminal offence, but there are individual constituent elements of a criminal act that may apply in case of cyberbullying. These include, for example:

• the right to one's own image (§33 of the German Artistic Copyright Act);
• violation of one’s highly personal sphere of life through visual recordings (§201a of the German Criminal Code);
• insult (§185 of the German Criminal Code);
• coercion (§240 of the German Criminal Code);
• threats (§241 of the German Criminal Code);
• character assassination (§186);
• defamation (§ 187 of the German Criminal Code);
• stalking (§ 238) and
• depiction of violence (§131 of the German Criminal Code).

For criminal prosecution, it is usually necessary to file criminal charges and, if necessary, initiate criminal complaint proceedings.

Civil law claims can also be brought in the form of warnings, prohibitory injunctions and, if necessary, claims for damages and compensation for pain and suffering caused.

It is always advisable to seek legal advice before taking such steps.