Is Tracking Someone On Social Media The Same As Stalking?

Tracking someone on social media to uncover their routines and personal information is typically seen as stalking. However, this definition appears incorrect as seasoned attorney Ugo Lord educates his 6.7 million followers on stalking.

The famous attorney reacted to a viral video of a woman who “stalked” a man’s activities online and used them to ruin his wedding engagement.

According to the lady, her friend accidentally knocked her chair into the guy behind her, spilling his drink all over him. The man didn’t take the mistake lightly and rained insults on them, including spitting on the friend.

This woman then spent years getting under this man’s skin. She created fake Facebook accounts where she would message him spoilers to his favorite TV shows and movies. She even discovered his secret Reddit account where she would continue to spoil his favorite shows. After a few years of this, she lost interest in him.

Fast forward eight years, she saw “…a friend of a friend…” get engaged to the guy. This revelation compelled her to study the man’s online activities, where she found some “sinister stuff” in his Reddit.

She compiled this information and other unflattering ones throughout social media and sent them to the soon-to-be wife through one of her old fake Facebook accounts, who later called off the engagement.

Does that qualify as stalking?

While the internet found the story hilarious and shocking, others were curious about the legal implications of her actions. Fortunately, Dr. Ugo Lord reacted to the video on social media, sharing his professional insight on the topic.

The attorney summarizes the situation with, “this woman used…everything she could find a or this man…to expose his darkest secrets for an act he committed against her friend…years ago”.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is perfectly legal because it’s in the public domain,” Ugo Lord reveals. Therefore, her actions do not qualify as stalking since “…there’s no expectation of privacy when the information is already out there”.

In other words, since she primarily used information the man willingly uploaded on the internet, it doesn’t qualify as stalking. In reality, this seems more like an investigation, and that’s perfectly legal.

So, what is stalking?

Stalking is when someone willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows and harasses another person. It is stalking when the stalker makes a credible threat intending to put the victim in reasonable fear of their safety.

If found guilty, the stalker can spend nearly one year in a county jail, pay a fine up to $1,000, or both.

To make the case that the woman is a stalker, the prosecution must prove that she harassed and repeatedly monitored the man. There must also be a threat that places the man in reasonable fear for his safety.

These definitions don’t apply in this case

By this definition, the case in the video doesn’t qualify as stalking since it misses some crucial elements – harassment and threats. All the woman did was source information available to the public without maliciously interacting with the man.

In that case, her investigative work is perfectly legal, making her not guilty of stalking since there’s no expectation of privacy on already-posted content online.

The comment section shared their opinion

Dr. Lord’s YouTube media followers enjoy his content for the information and entertainment value and will always provide their opinions. One YouTube user comments, “Remember, don’t put anything online that you don’t want others to see.”

Another user commented that “spitting on someone is a crime. They should have called the police and saved 15 years”. 

While others mentioned that the story might be fake and made for entertainment and discussion, in reality, she would be found innocent of stalking