Intimate Images and Cyber-Protection law

Cyberbullying is when someone uses electronic communication – such as email, text messages, social media - to bully someone else. The person responsible for the communication either maliciously harmed or intended to cause harm to someone’s health or well-being or did so without thinking or caring about the consequences of their actions.

Cyberbullying can include:

• revealing sensitive personal facts or confidential information
• threating or intimidating another person
• communicating in a way that is grossly offensive, indecent, or obscene
• harassing another person
• making a false accusation
• assuming the online identity of another person
• encouraging another person to commit suicide
• criticizing or disparaging another person because of a prohibited ground of discrimination, like race, religion or sexual orientation

Cyberbullying also includes encouraging someone else to do any of these things.

An intimate image is a visual recording of a person. This includes photographs, films or videos in which a person depicted in the image is nude, exposing their genitals or anal region, exposing her breasts or is engaged in explicit sexual activity.

Sharing an intimate image without consent means posting or sharing the image without permission of the person depicted in the image or being reckless as to whether that person permitted it to be shared.

Reckless means not thinking or caring about the consequences of your actions. Being reckless as to whether a person consented means not bothering to find out if the person consented.

There is a dedicated team whose job is to help victims of cyberbullying and people whose intimate images were shared without consent. This team is called CyberScan.

If you think you or someone you know is being cyber-bullied, call CyberScan at 902-424-6990 (within HRM) or 855-702-8324 (toll-free).

Anyone can contact CyberScan. This includes young people who feel they are being cyber-bullied or are the victim of unwanted sharing of intimate images, their parents, teachers, principals, police, or other members of the public.

CyberScan will try to stop what is happening by talking with everyone involved. The persons responsible often do not understand the seriousness of their behaviour.

Where possible will seek to resolve the matter informally, by using restorative practices or other approaches. CyberScan will help victims through the process if they choose to apply for a protection order.

Victims can also get an order from the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to stop the behaviour. These orders can

• forbid someone from sharing an intimate image
• forbid someone from posting communications that would be considered cyber-bullying
• forbid someone from contacting the victim in the future
• order a person to take down or disable access to an intimate image or communication
• declare that an image is an intimate image or that communication is cyberbullying
• award damages - an amount of money the court orders a person to pay for causing harm to another person
• refer the matter to dispute-resolution

For more information on cyberbullying and the unwanted sharing of intimate images or how to apply for a cyber-protection order, read the guide What you need to know about the Intimate Images and Cyber-Protection Act.