Reporting a stranger who insults you is hard. But blocking an ex, a friend, a colleague who is “worried” is even harder. Why? Because familiarity blurs the lines: you tell yourself it is clumsiness, attention, affection, when in reality it may already be cyberharassment. The abuser often uses the emotional bond to justify the unjustifiable.
This capsule describes these situations: the ex who watches your Stories to know who you are with; the friend who demands an immediate reply and makes you feel guilty if you stay silent; the colleague whose insistence on personal photos makes you uncomfortable, even outside the office. If it is imposed, it is not affection, it is control. There is something particularly insidious about these situations: intimate knowledge is used as a weapon, to give the impression that you can’t escape. Having been close to someone in the past gives them no rights over your digital present.
How to respond? Listen to your discomfort, because what you feel is valid information. Cut off access, by changing your passwords and restricting access to your accounts. Document, even if it is someone close. Talk about it, without hiding behind the complexity of the relationship. Respect doesn’t stop where familiarity begins: closeness never excuses surveillance.
