What are cyberstalking laws?
Cyberstalking laws make it a crime to use email, social media, messaging apps or other online tools to repeatedly target someone in a way that puts them in reasonable fear for their safety or causes them substantial emotional distress. In the United States, the main federal law is 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, and each state has its own stalking or harassment laws. Most of these laws require a pattern of conduct, not a single message, along with a harmful intent. Penalties range from misdemeanors to long federal prison terms, depending on the facts.
The table below lists the main stalking or cyberstalking statute for each state. Each state guide explains how that law works, with links to the official text.
Cyberstalking laws by state
Showing 51 of 51 states
Values come from each jurisdiction’s guide, checked against official sources on November 1, 2026. Open the guide for the exact rule, exceptions and sources.
The federal cyberstalking law: 18 U.S.C. § 2261A
Federal stalking law is written in two parts. The first covers stalking that involves travel between states or countries, entering or leaving Indian country, or being present in places under special federal jurisdiction. The second, § 2261A(2), is the one most cyberstalking cases rely on. It applies when someone uses the mail, an interactive computer service, an electronic communication service, or another facility of interstate or foreign commerce to carry out a course of conduct against another person.
What prosecutors have to show
In plain terms, a federal cyberstalking charge under § 2261A(2) has three building blocks:
- Intent. The person acted with the intent to kill, injure, harass or intimidate someone, or to place them under surveillance with that intent.
- A course of conduct. Federal law defines this as a pattern of two or more acts showing a continuity of purpose (18 U.S.C. § 2266). A single angry post usually does not meet that bar on its own.
- A harmful result. The conduct either placed the victim in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or caused, attempted to cause, or would reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress.
The protection reaches beyond the direct target. The fear element can involve harm to an immediate family member, a spouse or intimate partner, and certain animals, such as a pet, service animal, emotional support animal or horse. The emotional distress element also covers immediate family members and partners.
Why the online element matters
Because the internet is a facility of interstate commerce, the federal law can apply even when the person doing the stalking never leaves home. Messages, posts, tracking and surveillance carried out through online services can all form part of the course of conduct.
Federal penalties for cyberstalking
Section 2261A does not set its own penalties. It points to 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b), which ties the maximum sentence to the harm caused:
- Up to 5 years in prison in other cases.
- Up to 10 years if the victim suffers serious bodily injury or the offender uses a dangerous weapon.
- Up to 20 years if the victim suffers permanent disfigurement or a life-threatening bodily injury.
- Up to life in prison if the victim dies.
- At least 1 year in prison if the stalking violates a protection order, restraining order or no-contact order.
Fines can be added to any of these terms. When the victim is under 18, 18 U.S.C. § 2261B raises the maximum prison term by five years. The increase does not apply in some lower-level cases where the offender is also a minor, or where the victim is 15 to 17 and no more than three years younger than the offender.
A separate federal law, 47 U.S.C. § 223, covers harassing use of telecommunications devices, such as anonymous messages meant to abuse, threaten or harass a specific person, or repeated contact made solely to harass. It carries up to two years in prison. Prosecutors choose which charge fits the facts.
Threats, free speech and Counterman v. Colorado
Cyberstalking laws have to coexist with the First Amendment. Offensive, rude or unpopular speech is generally protected. True threats of violence are not.
In Counterman v. Colorado, decided on June 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a stalking conviction built on hundreds of Facebook messages sent to a local musician between 2014 and 2016. The man kept creating new accounts after she blocked him. The Court held that when a prosecution rests on threatening statements, the state must prove the speaker had some understanding of the threatening nature of the words. Recklessness is enough: the speaker consciously disregarded a substantial risk that the messages would be seen as threats of violence. Proof that he intended to threaten, or knew he was threatening, is not required.
For victims, the practical lesson is simple. Context matters. A full record of the messages, the blocks and the new accounts helps show what the sender knew and ignored.
How state cyberstalking laws differ
State laws share the same core idea, but the details change from state to state. Some states have a dedicated cyberstalking provision. Others fold online conduct into a general stalking or harassment statute. The differences that usually matter most are:
- Whether a credible threat is required. Some laws punish a pattern of harassment on its own. Others require a threat, or treat a threat as an aggravating factor.
- The required harm. Many statutes use fear for safety or substantial emotional distress. The exact wording changes how a case is proven.
- What counts as online conduct. Some statutes reach unauthorized access to accounts or devices, not only messages and posts.
- Penalty levels. The same conduct can be a misdemeanor in one state and a felony in another, especially when it violates a court order.
Florida is a useful example. Its stalking statute, Fla. Stat. § 784.048, defines cyberstalking in two ways. The first is a course of conduct that sends words, images or language by email or other electronic communication directed at, or about, a specific person. The second is accessing, or trying to access, someone’s online accounts or internet-connected home systems without permission in a way that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. Willful, malicious and repeated cyberstalking is a first-degree misdemeanor. Combined with a credible threat, it becomes aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony.
For the rule in your state, use the table above or open your state’s page under defamation and online harassment laws. The guide to online harassment laws covers the broader category of abusive conduct that may not rise to stalking.
Cyberstalking, harassment, doxxing and defamation
These terms overlap, and one campaign can involve several of them at once. The distinction matters because each one leads to a different remedy.
- Cyberstalking is a crime built on a pattern of conduct, a harmful intent and fear or distress. It is mainly handled by police and prosecutors.
- Online harassment is a wider term. Some of it is criminal and some is not. See online harassment laws.
- Doxxing is publishing someone’s private information, such as a home address, to expose or target them. Whether it is illegal depends on the state and the circumstances. See is doxxing illegal?
- Defamation is a false statement of fact that harms someone’s reputation. It is usually a civil claim for money damages, not a crime. See libel vs. slander and how to sue for defamation.
A stalker who also spreads false claims about you may expose themselves to criminal charges and a civil lawsuit. Civil claims have strict deadlines, so check the defamation statute of limitations early.
What to do if you are being cyberstalked
Every situation is different, and a lawyer or victim advocate in your state can advise on your specific case. These steps help protect both your safety and your options:
- Put safety first. If you believe you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local police before anything else.
- Preserve the evidence. Take screenshots that show the content, the account name, the URL, and the date and time. Save emails with their full headers and export message threads where the platform allows it. Keep a simple log of each incident.
- Do not engage. Replying can escalate the situation and can blur the record. Block the accounts once you have saved what you need.
- Secure your accounts. Change passwords, turn on two-factor authentication and review which devices and apps have access to your accounts and location.
- Report to the platform. Most social networks prohibit harassment, threats and the sharing of private information. Use the platform’s own reporting tools and keep the confirmation.
- Report to law enforcement. Bring your log and evidence to local police. Internet crimes can also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
- Ask about a protection order. State courts can issue civil protection or restraining orders. Under federal law, stalking in violation of such an order carries a minimum prison term of one year.
- Talk to a lawyer. A lawyer can explain criminal options, civil claims and deadlines in your state.
Removing cyberstalking content from platforms and Google
A criminal case can take months, and it does not automatically take anything offline. Posts, fake profiles and threads about you can keep ranking for your name while the case moves forward.
Platforms are usually not the target of these cases. Under 47 U.S.C. § 230, online services are generally not treated as the publisher of content their users post, although that protection does not limit the enforcement of federal criminal law. In practice, removal usually runs through the platform’s own policies on harassment, threats, impersonation and private information, through court orders, and through search engine removal requests.
Useful starting points:
- How to report defamation on social media, with each platform’s forms.
- How to remove negative content from Google, including what to do when the source page stays up.
- How to opt out of data brokers, which can help limit the personal details a stalker can find.
If the harassment has turned into public attacks on you or your business, the guide to social media crisis management explains how to respond without making things worse.
How Media Removal can help
Media Removal is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or represent anyone in court. Criminal charges and protection orders belong to the police, prosecutors and courts, and to your lawyer.
What we do is the work that sits alongside the legal process: getting harmful content taken down at the source and cleaning up what appears when people search your name. That can include:
- Reporting posts, profiles and threads through each platform’s own rules and legal channels.
- Requesting removal or deindexing from Google once the source is gone or a removal ground applies.
- Pushing down results that cannot be removed, using accurate, authoritative content.
- Monitoring for new posts and accounts so they can be reported quickly.
Removal always depends on the platform, the publisher or a court, and not every item can come down. For content removal, you are billed only when the URL is verified offline. When a campaign is already damaging your name or your business, our reputation crisis management team responds the same day. Every client signs an NDA, and so do we. If you want us to look at your case, request a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is cyberstalking a federal crime?
Yes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, it is a federal crime to use the mail, an interactive computer service or another facility of interstate commerce to carry out a course of conduct intended to kill, injure, harass or intimidate someone, when that conduct causes reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury or substantial emotional distress. Each state also has its own stalking or harassment laws.
What is the penalty for cyberstalking under federal law?
Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b), the maximum in most cases is 5 years in prison, rising to 10 years with serious bodily injury or a dangerous weapon, 20 years with permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury, and life if the victim dies. Stalking in violation of a protection order carries at least 1 year. Fines can be added.
How many messages count as cyberstalking?
There is no fixed number. Federal law requires a course of conduct, defined as two or more acts showing a continuity of purpose, plus a harmful intent and a harmful result. State laws use similar but not identical tests, so the same facts can be treated differently from one state to another.
Is cyberstalking the same as online harassment?
Not exactly. Cyberstalking is a specific crime that usually requires a pattern of conduct and fear or substantial emotional distress. Online harassment is a broader term that covers conduct ranging from criminal threats to rude behavior that breaks a platform’s rules but no law.
Can I get cyberstalking posts removed from the internet?
Often, but not always. Many platforms remove content that breaks their rules on harassment, threats, impersonation or private information, and courts can order removal. Search engines can drop results once the source is gone or a removal ground applies. What cannot be removed can sometimes be pushed down in search results.
Should I contact the police or a lawyer first?
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Otherwise, preserve your evidence and report to local police, and speak with a lawyer about protection orders and civil claims in your state. Removing content and cleaning up search results can run in parallel, but save your evidence before anything is taken down.
Sources
- 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, Stalking (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. § 2261, penalties (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. § 2261B, enhanced penalty for stalkers of children (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. § 2266, definitions (Cornell LII)
- 47 U.S.C. § 223, obscene or harassing telephone calls (Cornell LII)
- 47 U.S.C. § 230 (Cornell LII)
- Counterman v. Colorado (U.S. Supreme Court, 2023) (Cornell LII)
- Fla. Stat. § 784.048, Stalking (Florida Senate)
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
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