We call on the UK Government to modernise the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 so it reflects how harassment occurs in the digital age by creating offences that address coordinated online harassment, doxing, harassment by proxy, and organised campaigns of abuse.

Background / Justification

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 was enacted before modern social media and online communities existed. While it provides protection against repeated harassment by individuals, it does not adequately address coordinated campaigns involving multiple people acting together online.

Victims may experience prolonged campaigns involving doxing, repeated republication of allegations, malicious complaints to authorities, coordinated attacks on their employment or business, and organised encouragement of others to participate in harassment. Individual incidents are often treated separately, despite forming part of a single coordinated campaign that causes significant alarm, distress and economic harm.

We ask the Government to modernise the Act by introducing the following reforms:

1. Coordinated Online Harassment

Create a statutory definition recognising that harassment may be committed collectively by two or more individuals whose combined conduct forms a course of conduct causing alarm or distress.

2. Ringleader Liability

Establish criminal liability for individuals who intentionally or recklessly organise, direct, encourage or coordinate others to engage in conduct amounting to harassment, even where they do not personally contact the victim.

3. Harassment by Proxy

Create an offence where a person intentionally or recklessly causes or encourages others to commit acts that amount to harassment on their behalf.

4. Doxing

Create a specific criminal offence covering the malicious publication or republication of another person's personal identifying information, including information obtained from public sources, where the intent is to cause fear, distress, harassment or facilitate abuse.

5. Cumulative Assessment

Require courts and investigators to assess the cumulative effect of coordinated conduct rather than considering each incident in isolation when determining whether harassment has occurred.

6. Economic Harassment

Recognise that coordinated campaigns intended to damage a person's employment, business, charitable work, fundraising, professional reputation or ability to earn a living may amount to harassment where carried out as part of a targeted campaign.

7. Malicious Abuse of Complaints Procedures

Provide that knowingly false or recklessly made complaints to regulators, public authorities, employers or police may form part of a course of conduct amounting to harassment when used as a means of targeting an individual.

8. Aggravating Factors

Provide enhanced sentencing where harassment involves coordinated online campaigns, exploitation of known vulnerabilities, publication of personal information, or deliberate attempts to cause significant economic or reputational harm.