What to do when you witness harassment/experience it by proxy

If you or your colleagues witness harassment or experience it by proxy, then you need to take the following steps depending on the situation.

If you or your colleagues feel threatened by online abuse then you should notify police. You should also notify colleagues and the relevant social media platform.

It is crucial that you take steps to protect yourself by calling on colleagues, for example, to help with any of these steps. In terms of ensuring you have sufficient evidence of any online abuse, you will need to take steps such as screenshotting the posts or direct messages in question.

You should also take screenshots of the home page of that particular account to prove, for example, that it was publicly accessible at the time any abusive material was posted. This is a necessary precaution in case the account is locked down or even deactivated or deleted at a later date.

It is important to add here that if you believe that you - or someone you know - is in immediate danger then you should contact police on 999.

Non-emergency situations, which do not require an immediate police response, should be reported by dialling 101.

Further guidance on when you should contact police is included here: https://reportharmfulcontent.com/when-should-you-go-to-the-police/.

For more information on stalking and harassment, visit https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/sh/stalking-harassment/what-is-stalking-harassment/.

Impact on mental health

If online abuse if impacting your mental health then it is crucial that you take a break. You also have the option of deleting a social media account.

Some social media platforms allow you to temporarily deactivate accounts.

For more information on online harm and how to report it visit https://reportharmfulcontent.com/.

We would advise doing an online check by putting your MP / PPC’s name into a search engine and seeing what comes up.

You can check if an email has been involved in a data breach by visiting https://haveibeenpwned.com/.

Phishing emails

Beware of phishing emails which can appear, at first glance, to be from official organisations. Alternatively, you may get emails which appear to be from a constituent, with an urgent sounding request to open malicious links. Phishing emails are designed to enable the sender to install malware, which is malicious software used to steal personal data or money.

The check a website service can be used to check if a website is genuine. It has been set up by the government-supported Get Safe Online site in partnership with the Cifas fraud prevention service.

https://www.getsafeonline.org/checkawebsite/

Ensure that apps are regularly updated to ensure they have the latest fixes and security updates.

Useful links for further information

Setting up two-step verification

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/setting-2-step-verification-2sv

Documenting online abuse

https://www.onlinesos.org/

Meta - Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp / Threads

Meta safety center

https://about.meta.com/actions/safety

Crisis support resources (you need to select UK in drop-down menu)

https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/crisis-support-resources