Altercation puts new spin on cyberstalking

A senior Melbourne academic claiming she felt threatened by a well-known artist has resulted in an unlikely outcome. The ''victim'' has agreed not to visit the Facebook page of the ''offender'' for the next 20 years.

Last month, Elizabeth Grierson, the head of RMIT's fine art department, was granted a temporary intervention order against artist Steve Cox over comments and images he posted on his private Facebook page and on a second Facebook page, Save Art From RMIT. Mr Cox has been critical of Ms Grierson's administration of the fine art department.

Mr Cox ceded some ground, too. He undertook to refrain from referring to Ms Grierson ''with malice'' and agreed to remove three offending posts from his personal Facebook page. He otherwise remains free of the constraints Ms Grierson had sought to impose.

The case raises the question of whether an action can be considered an offence under the Stalking Act when the ''victim'' has to search for it on the Facebook page of the ''offender''. In the end, that argument was not tested in court. It also highlights the grey area of what constitutes ''private'' and ''public'' discourse in the realm of social media. Read full article here.

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