Reporting terms of service violations

Often, the only recourse you have to stop a bully online is to report them to their e-mail service provider or ISP. If the actions violate the terms of service of that provider, they may lose their account or have it suspended temporarily. This is frequently enough to stop the bully in their virtual tracks. You start by visiting their ISP or e-mail service provider’s terms of service, or terms of use section. There, read the policy carefully. Make notes about which sections you believe were violated and how.

In the majority of cases, they also have an email address posted to send violation reports to. If they don't, you can usually use "abuse@[name_of_ISP_goes_here] or tos@[ISP name] to make the report. Copy yourself on the e-mail so you have a permanent record of what you sent, where you sent it and when.

Don’t expect too much, though. It has been our experience that most ISPs are reluctant to act on a first contact, if at all. And they have good reasons for this. Sometimes the cyberbully poses as the victim, in an attempt to get the ISP to unknowingly assist in the harassment. It is also typical that some of the "evidence" being provided has been fabricated, or has been 'enhanced' to be more serious than it actually is. There are also privacy and legal considerations that they must consider. And they receive hundreds of thousands of tos reports and have to prioritize them.

The likelihood of getting a response and their taking any disciplinary action depends on how well you make your case. All reports should follow the rules the ISP or e-mail provider sets out in their report TOS information. Check and double check to make sure you have it all and have clearly identified whatever you have. Most ISPs require the following information to be provided, at minimum:

1. Date and time that the violations of their TOS took place (keep each violation separate in the report).
2. Copies of emails (complete with headers (We teach you how to do that at WiredSafety.org if you don’t know. Your “help” instructions with your e-mail application may walk you through it also, step-by-step.), or the full and correct URLs of newsgroup or bulletin board postings (copy the exact address in your browser when you read it, and paste it “as is” into the report).
3. Screen shots of offending IMs (save these also to your computer, as the site may change and you will need proof of what used to be there).
4. A time-line of how the situation developed, including copies of all communications. (Using a monitoring application, like Spectorsoft Pro can be very helpful here).
5. Any information you can provide as to what steps, if any, you have taken to try to alleviate the situation.

Don’t tell them things about the harasser you know in real life, or make unfounded accusations unrelated to the communications. Also do not ask them for the identity of the harasser. They are not permitted to give out that information except through valid legal process.

You need to follow up in a few days if you have not received any response other than an "auto responder" and the situation is continuing.

Be firm and consistent when you follow-up. Remind them of the previous e-mail, or resend it marked as “resent on [fill in the date]”. Always copy yourself on these reports for your own records. Do not copy help groups and the FBI and others on the correspondence. We at WiredSafety.org typically disregard all reports we receive, assuming that one of the other groups is dealing with it. Be focused and clear and you will probably get the help you need.

If not, come to WiredSafety.org for our help.

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