Recently, there have been pages popping up on Facebook that are cyberstalking or cyberbullying truck drivers and their families. The most recent of these pages has taken to “stealing” profile pictures from the wives of truck drivers, and they are posting these pictures on a page with some very rude, degrading, and humiliating captions. We will not name the page, as we do not want the page gain any likes from the publicity, and we are not trying to promote the spread of such mean and hateful actions of this/these people who run this page.
This page has responded to some of the people asking their picture being removed by stating that “they have done nothing wrong as their profile pictures are public.” Maybe our pictures on Facebook are public, but the degradation and humiliation that is being done along with the pictures is a CRIME!
This most recent page is promoting these women and sometimes the couples for sex that they did not ASK to be solicited for. The admin (or owner) of this particular page apparently thinks they are doing nothing wrong; however, there are several issues that need to be addressed here. Below are some of the offenses being committed by this page and other pages that are/were like it:
– Cyberstalking – this is committed when you use the internet and social media forum to stalk or harass an individual, group, or an organization. Cyberstalking may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel.
– Cyberbullying – this is also committed using the internet and social media forums. Cyberbullying is NOT just a kid crime any longer. Cyberbullying can happen 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
These pages are NOT funny and NOT a joke. They are seriously offensive and need to be removed from Facebook and the page owner/administrator needs to be shut down as well. Several people have reported these pages. The last one was reported, shut down, and the person reestablished it within 24 hours.
These pages cause the individuals being bullied to receive unwanted sexual advances from others and they also cause unwanted attention to these people.
If you have been a victim of any of these pages, there are steps you can take to STOP the bullying:
• Report it to Facebook. The Community Standards for Facebook have a NO TOLERANCE POLICY for cyberbulling!
• Contact your local police department and make a report to the Cyber Crimes unit.
• Contact your local Federal Bureau of Investigations Cyber Crime Unit or submit a report to the Federal Bureau of Investigations online at www.fbi.gov.
It is sad that this article even has to be written and that our fellow drivers and families or any other families have to go through such a crime! If you do know of these pages, please for your own safety DO NOT COMMENT on the page or respond in any way except as above as they will continue to harass you. These pages need to be shut down and the fewer people that respond or comment, the better. The people “Liking” these pages are no better than the ones who started the pages in the first place.
Protect yourself and your family by making your entire profile on Facebook private and set to show “Friends” anything on your page.