Ethan Knox

Binghamton alumna provides tips to navigating online abuse, how to get involved in prevention, and her personal story

By Ethan Knox ’20 on SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 @ BingUNews

Even after experiencing the worst of the Internet, Lisa-Michelle Kucharz ’90, knows that it’s become essential to our lives. Yet her lived experience impacts every word she speaks at the podium.

“I am not here to tell you to shun social media, avoid all apps or stay away from the internet. Technology, the internet and social media are some of the greatest gifts of the 21st century,” Kucharz said. “While these gifts can be extraordinarily positive, negative and sometimes devastating behaviors have emerged through their use. Online abuse is one of the most important conversations today, especially for college students.”

Kucharz earned her bachelor’s in political science at Binghamton University and was covered in the Fall 2022 edition of the Binghamton University Magazine for her work in cyberbullying prevention. Although originally an expert in marketing and communications and an adjunct professor at Long Island University, she knows the details of online abuse and can speak on the laws surrounding it very well — because she lived it herself. Starting in 2014, she was the victim of months of endless discriminatory and hateful speech, as well as a targeted effort to instill fear of bodily harm.

On Sept. 20, 2023, the seventh annual John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Lecture took place in the Chamber Hall in the Anderson Center for the Performing Arts. The topic was “The Law & Online Abuse”, and Kucharz spoke about her experience as a victim and activist.

JOHN AND LAWRENCE BONZANI MEMORIAL LECTURE

The lecture is endowed each year by alumnus Andrew Bonzani ’86 and his family in honor of his late brothers and is led by Harpur Edge in collaboration with campus partners, including Harpur College, Pre-Law Advising and the Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Society. The lecture highlights a topic of interest related to the law and aims to aid in the professional development of students interested in a possible career in the legal field.

In the past, the Bonzani lecture has covered a number of topics related to the law. Since the lecture’s inception in 2017, speakers from every facet of the law have presented timely topics. Some of these include work in federal prosecution related to the NXIVM “sex-cult,” healthcare disparities related to COVID-19, the ethical quandary between personal and professional responsibility and the fight for protections surrounding the well-being of displaced peoples. 

After months of repeated torment, Kucharz said, she decided to deactivate or delete all of her social media. Yet removing herself was still not enough to prevent the steady stream of offenses that were building up around the case. Using false names and aliases, the harasser sent emails and messages through Kucharz’s website, contacted her friends and family and even doxxed her (a term referring to the release of private or identifying information), sharing her parents’ address.

Kucharz soon learned that the harasser was in Canada. Aggravated harassment is a misdemeanor in New York, but not an extraditable offense, and thus her local police could offer no further assistance. In Canada, the police couldn’t pursue it any further, either, because the target of the abuse was in New York. This is common in cases like these.

“Online abuse knows no boundaries, but often jurisdictional issues, varying laws and outdated reporting policies leave targets without recourse or forced to endure a difficult and time-consuming path to justice,” Kucharz said.

Yet Kucharz continued to fight back. After eventually pursuing a legal case with the aid of detectives, attorneys and other legal professionals, Kucharz was successful in her efforts, and the harasser pleaded guilty in 2017 and sentenced to a six-month jail term.

Kucharz became devoted to preventing this from happening to others.

“For three years, I reached out to almost every New York state senator and assembly person to remind them of the importance of cyberbullying prevention initiatives. I also asked others to contact them. I spoke with legislators at community events. I held events, was a panelist and discussed legislation and other initiatives on social media and with advocates, educators and news outlets. In May 2021, [the cyberbullying task force bill] passed in both houses. Five months later, it was signed by Governor Hochul,” said Kucharz, adding that the fight is far from over.

The legislation contained deadlines for the formation of the task force and when it was supposed to report back; these deadlines passed. 

“In 2022, I reached out to all of the sponsors and co-sponsors. I heard back from several and three senators reached out to the governor and leadership of both houses, encouraging them to form the task force,” she said. “According to the last update I received from the governor’s office, they were still finalizing appointments and hoping it would convene soon.”

Not even Kucharz’s case is completely resolved. Like many victims of online abuse, a trial, conviction and ban from accessing the internet wasn’t enough to completely stop her harasser from contacting her.

“Days after my harasser’s probation ended, she began publicly posting about me again. She threatened to try to have me arrested. She attempted to have me banned from entering Canada and taunted me about it, and again, she made threats of violence,” Kucharz recounted. “I filed another local police report in May 2022.” 

In her talk, Kucharz discussed different forms of online abuse. She is dedicated to increasing awareness of these issues and providing resources to those affected.

“A month after the sentencing, my story was shared with media outlets. People began to reach out to me, mostly parents whose children were experiencing cyberbullying and adults facing some form of online abuse,” she said. “Everyone needed information and resources.”

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ONLINE ABUSE?

“More severe forms of online abuse are more likely to happen in some venues, with the number one place being online dating. In addition, 45% of the more severe cases, like mine, can happen in multiple venues.”

Here are some of the different types of online abuse that Kucharz discussed in her lecture:

1. Aggravated harassment — “When a person uses electronic communication to communicate a threat to cause physical harm to another person or their property, or to a member of their family or household. It also includes phone calls intended to harass or threaten, whether or not a conversation takes place.”

2. Cyberstalking — “Involves a person using tech to cause reasonable fear or to create mental or emotional harm. It could include causing a target to reasonably fear for their own physical health, safety or well-being, or of a family member, pet or service animal. It could involve routine communication that leaves a target feeling emotionally distressed, or repeat communication that causes mental or emotional harm after a perpetrator was informed to cease. It could involve a perpetrator communicating with the target’s place of employment or business after they were informed to stop. It also could involve the unauthorized tracking of a person from a GPS or similar device.” 

3. Non-consensual distribution of intimate imagery — “In New York State, non-consensual distribution of intimate imagery is when someone with the intent to cause harm to the emotional, financial or physical welfare of another person intentionally disseminates or publishes a still or video of that person, who is identifiable from the image or information displayed with it, without the person’s consent, and the image depicts an exposed intimate part of the other person or the other person engaging in sexual conduct and the person knew or reasonably should have known the person depicted intended for it to remain private.”

4. Sextortion — “Covered by laws concerning coercion, it’s when someone can cause a person to do something or not to do something, including to produce, disseminate or otherwise display an image depicting nudity of such a person or depicting such a person engaged in sexual conduct. The FBI has seen a huge increase in the number of cases involving youth sextortion.”

5. Hate crimes and impersonation — “I’ve often been asked why my harasser wasn’t also charged with a hate crime, because she made many public antisemitic remarks about me and to me. Offensive speech, even when hateful, in and of itself is most often protected. In New York, for hate speech to be considered part of a hate crime, a person carries out a criminal act that is motivated in whole or substantial part by the perceived identity or beliefs of the target. It’s also unlawful in New York to impersonate someone online with the intent to obtain a benefit or injure or defraud someone.”

6. Defamation — “When a person makes false statements or accusations about another and publishes those statements to a third party, either spoken or in writing, and those statements damage the reputation, character or integrity of that person. The false statement must clearly identify the target, and the person who made the statement knew or should have known they were false. In New York, one can be sued for defamatory statements posted online that meet the criteria, even if they have been deleted.”

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE A VICTIM OF ONLINE ABUSE?

1. Resist the urge to respond and block the harrasser

• Don’t engage, respond, retaliate or share your harrassers statements
• “To the best of your ability, prohibit those engaging in abuse from contacting you or accessing your timelines by blocking them. Blocking did not stop my harasser. And to my knowledge, in the more severe cases, it usually doesn’t work on its own. That said, it’s still better to block than not. This also makes it clear that the communication is unwanted. One thing I often suggest, especially for youth who are experiencing cyberbullying, is to also block mutual connections of the offending accounts. You want to cut off the sources of information that are being used to cause harm.”

2. Document everything — Preserve the evidence and the context from meetings with school officials, police officers or anyone else you may have received help from

• “For static images, screenshots with full URLs are the best. If you’re on the go, on your phone or otherwise can’t get the full URL, then any screenshot is better than none. For videos or audio, do your best to capture them and include the full URL. Sort your documents and folders. Find a naming convention that is consistent and makes finding documents easy. Regularly place your files into the folders. Save your documentation in multiple locations like a computer external hard drive.”

3. Your safety is your priority

• “If you think your life or physical well-being is in immediate danger, call law enforcement. If you’re on campus, call the University Police Emergency line. If you’re off campus, call 911.”

4. Consider consulting a lawyer with expertise in this specific area about your legal options

• They can review the specific situation, explain applicable laws, advocate on your behalf and discuss speaking publicly. You also may want to know what the possible legal ramifications of your own actions could be.

5. After you document an incident, inform the platform about abusive content

• “Don’t give up if the platform’s initial response is unhelpful. I had to report the abuse of content multiple times and enlist my friends to do the same until it was removed.”

6. Be prepared — “Bring organized printouts to your local police station and be able to explain the situation succinctly and safely. Ask questions, take notes and write down follow-up instructions. If possible, have someone with you. Having support is very helpful. Follow up…if necessary, request to speak with a supervisor.”

• “Inform a small group of friends or family. Consider counseling. I greatly benefited from counseling and can’t imagine how I would have made it through my ordeal without it. Practice self-care. These aren’t just some trendy words — find ways to stave off stress; rest, and care for your mind and body. Consider informing your employer. This was very helpful in my case, not only for my safety and my colleagues’ and students’ safety but also to prevent them from being surprised when contacted by my harasser or when they saw defamatory posts or comments.”

7. Set up Google Alerts to inform you if information about you is being posted online

8. Consider purchasing domains of your name and variations of it to prevent anyone else from purchasing them. You don’t have to build websites on them to own them.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED IN PREVENTING THESE FORMS OF ABUSE?

“I understand many of you are wondering how advocacy goes from an idea to meaningful change. The truth is that there isn’t only one path. There are many ways to accomplish advocacy goals.”

Kucharz recommends the following ways to get involved:

1. Consider specializing in technology-facilitated abuse. Tech abuse overlaps with every area of law.

2. Be an upstander. If you see someone you know experiencing online abuse, reach out and offer support. 

3. Reach out to elected officials and:

• Share your stories.
• Let them know it’s time New York had an official definition for cyberbullying.
• Reach out to Gov. Hochul directly to ask her to sign a bill that prohibits the unlawful dissemination or publication of intimate images created by AI digitization, otherwise known as “deep-fake pornography.”
• Ask them to pass the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act of 2022.

4. Share your story, Kucharz’s story, anecdotal information from students, research and the need for action with those around you.

5. If you are an interested pre-law student, join a cyberbullying task force, like the New York Cyber Abuse Task Force.

If you are interested in learning more about the topic or finding resources around these forms of online abuse, visit the Cyberbullying Research Centerwebsite or Kucharz’s website, where she has put together a list of information specifically related to her lecture.