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Targeted assaults, lasting any amount of time, at a high intensity, that cause harm, intentionally exploiting vulnerabilities. Harassment is an attack on human dignity, reputation and privacy, with the goal of silencing and/or curtailing the target’s digital participation.

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Because harassment comes in many shapes and forms, it can be reported as a number of different criminal offenses. 

Sexual harassment (art. 182b of the Criminal code) explicitly mentions verbal forms of assaults, but necessitates the filing of a motion to initiate criminal proceedings with the Public prosecutor. In other words, you must inform the police and the Public prosecutor - a standard procedure - as well as file a motion to initiate the proceedings. 

ADVICE: File the motion. The courts are a crucial component of protection against harassment. 

Endangering safety, one of the many consequences of harassment, under art. 138 of the Criminal Code, provides another legal basis for protection. In this case, public prosecutors and police are mandated to follow up, investigate and responsible for protection. As the filing party, you are responsible for collecting evidence needed for filing the criminal charges. This option is  especially relevant for (female) journalists.

ADVICE: Explain in detail how, why and when you feel unsafe, and detail your concern for the safety of your family and loved ones. These details could be the key to success when it comes to court proceedings.

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There is always an inherent risk that online harassment will transition to the physical world. For this reason, physical safety is a crucial precondition for any other form of meaningful protection. In terms of mental protection, sometimes it is helpful to take a break or minimize time spent on social media platforms, or those platforms of communication where you are targeted with harassment. Talking to friends, family, partners and colleagues about harassment can also be helpful in creating a system of support. 

Blocking  , filtering and reporting options on social media platforms can often serve as a helpful tool for documenting harassment. 

The DeleteMe tool can help find and remove your personal information from some websites. 

Reaching out for support professional associations and support groups is another method for dealing with harassment. 

Several investigative journalists and their networks track down perpetrators of online harassment by analysing their digital footprint. This has been an effective mechanism for not only the identification of perpetrators, but also exposing them and their crimes to public scrutiny. 

In Serbia, female journalists can find support through the initiative “Female Journalists against violence”, and dozens of other feminist organizations that offer services for individuals targeted with violence, including online.

 If you ever feel that the online violence you’re experiencing, might transition into the physical world, call the police → immediately. 

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Encryption is a cryptographic concept of encoding messages or information, which ensures that only people who have a way to decrypt it will be able to read it.

Voice communications are very easy to monitor and intercept. However, there are applications that enable encrypted communication through voice calls, as well as text messages, including group communication, photography and video. One of these apps is Signal, which is open source , run by a non-profit organisation and is entirely funded by donations, which allows it to work without monetising the data of its users. Telegram is an application which also has an encrypted audio and video call option and is definitely among the most popular services for secure communication.

Phone/Tablet Apps Encryption Computer/Laptop

Messages are mainly used for informal and personal communication, and are often the subject of correspondence of confidential information about users that should not be available to third parties. There are applications that enable encrypted  communication through chat services. 

SMS communication is similar to chat communication, the only difference is that the internet is used as a data transmission medium in chat communication, while the standard network of mobile phones (GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.) is used for SMS messages. It is important to emphasize that both parties must use encryption in order for the system to be secure. A free and open source online chat app that provides end-to-end encryption  by default is Signal. It is available for iOS and Android, as well as a desktop app. It provides a wide range of security options, such as self-destructing messages, PIN protection or encrypted video calls. You can also use Telegram where Secret Chats need to be enabled for end-to-end encryption.

Phone/Tablet Apps Encryption Computer/Laptop

Revenge porn is defined as posting sexually explicit content without consent, with the intent of humiliation, shame or blackmail. Revenge porn is a violation of  privacy and can result in extreme emotional trauma. 

Revenge porn is a serious form of assault, and as such, it is crucial that instances are reported to the police and the public prosecutor. There are several criminal acts that can be used as a legal basis to prosecute the posting of revenge porn. 

Sexual harassment (art. 182b of the Criminal Code):  filing a motion for the initiation of proceedings is a precondition to start the procedure. This means that you must inform the police and the public prosecutor - a standard procedure - as well as file a motion to initiate the proceedings. 

ADVICE: File the motion. The courts are a crucial component of protection against revenge porn.

Unauthorised wiretapping and recording (art.143 of the Criminal Code ), unauthorised taking of photos (art. 144), unauthorised publishing and presentation of another’s texts, portraits, and recordings (art.145 of the Criminal Code ), are other charges that refer to illegal recordings, and could be utilized to prosecute cases in which video was made without consent, even if it was not posted online.  These procedures carry private criminal charges, which means that you, the filing party,  must present the identity of the perpetrator, and as many details and as much evidence as you can (for example, where the recordings are stored, where the camera could have been placed during the recording, etc.). 

Your physical safety is the highest priority when it comes to protection.

If your harasser intentionally positions themself in your physical vicinity, you can request a court issued emergency restraining order. 

Document any and all recordings, comments, threats and other forms of harassment as crucial evidence for initiating protection mechanisms and/or court proceedings.

Seek support from CSOs, women’s support networks, and others who can help you choose the best way to protect yourself. 

Report any and all recordings, comments, threats and other forms of harassment to the platforms where they have been posted, and find out more about take down procedures on  Facebook and other platforms. 

And don’t forget, even if you originally gave your consent to be filmed, this does not imply consent for sharing that content. You are not to blame for being targeted with this type of assault.

 If you ever feel that the online violence you’re experiencing, might transition into the physical world, call the police → immediately. 

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Despite the development of more modern ways of communications, email has remained one of most commonly used solutions in official communications through the internet. Therefore, a large amount of important and sensitive information is still transmitted by email. On the other hand, the technology behind e-mail is not completely secure, it has a lot of security flaws, and the users have no control over who can access the metadata and content of their e-mail communication, especially when using email services such as Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, etc. 

Emails can be encrypted  using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) , which is based on public key cryptography. You need to generate a key pair - a public key which you share with others and a private key which you keep secret - in order to exchange encrypted emails with correspondents. 

If you use an email provider like Gmail or Outlook, you can encrypt your communication using Thunderbird, an open source email client with built-in OpenPGP capabilities, or by using the Mailvelope browser extension which works with popular webmail services. By using these tools you can easily generate a key pair for encrypting your email, or import existing encryption keys.

However, there are email providers, such as ProtonMail or Tutanota, which encrypt your messages automatically when they are sent between their users, and also provide ways to send encrypted emails to those using other providers.

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