Florida’s Cyber Harassment Statute: Doxing, Penalties, Injunctions

Florida’s cyber harassment statute is Section 784.048, the state’s cyberstalking law, which makes it a crime to repeatedly contact or post about someone electronically in a way that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.¹ A second statute, Section 836.115, covers publishing someone’s personal information online to intimidate them, commonly known as doxing.² Depending on the facts, the conduct can be charged as a first-degree misdemeanor or a third-degree felony, and a victim can also seek a civil injunction without paying a filing fee or hiring an attorney.

What Counts as Cyberstalking

Section 784.048 reaches two kinds of behavior. The first is a pattern of electronic communications — emails, texts, social media posts, forum messages, or anything else sent through an electronic platform — directed at a specific person or about that person, when those communications cause substantial emotional distress and have no legitimate purpose.¹ The second is accessing or trying to access someone’s online accounts or internet-connected home systems without permission, again causing substantial distress with no lawful reason.

The phrase “directed at or pertaining to” matters. The messages do not have to be sent to the victim. Public posts about a person on social media or in forums can qualify when they cause real distress and lack a legitimate purpose. A fake profile set up to mock someone, or a run of posts about a person in communities where their contacts will see them, can meet the standard.

The law also defines “harassment” more broadly as a pattern of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. Cyberstalking is the electronic version of that same idea. Both require repeated behavior; a single angry message is not enough.

Doxing Under Section 836.115

Florida treats doxing as its own offense. Section 836.115 makes it illegal to electronically publish someone’s personal identifying information with the intent to incite violence, commit a crime against them, or threaten and harass them in a way that creates a reasonable fear of bodily harm.² A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor.

This fills a real gap. Cyberstalking requires a pattern, but a single post of someone’s home address, phone number, or workplace meant to sic others on them can be prosecuted under 836.115 on its own. The statute defines “electronically publish” to include disseminating, posting, or disclosing information to any internet site or forum.

What the State Has to Prove

To convict under 784.048, prosecutors must show the defendant acted willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly. “Maliciously” here means wrongfully and intentionally, without lawful justification.¹

The conduct must be a “course of conduct” — a pattern of acts over a period of time, however short, that shows a continuity of purpose. Two coordinated acts a day apart can qualify. One blow-up message cannot.

The communications must have caused substantial emotional distress and served no legitimate purpose. That last element is where cases are often fought. Messages tied to a genuine business dispute, a custody fight, or political debate may have a legitimate purpose even when the recipient finds them upsetting. Courts look at the totality of the circumstances rather than reading individual messages in isolation.

The statute also expressly excludes constitutionally protected activity like picketing and organized protests from the definition of prohibited conduct.

Penalties

Misdemeanor Cyberstalking

A straight cyberstalking conviction under Section 784.048(2) is a first-degree misdemeanor. The maximum is one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000, with probation available as part of the sentence.³

Aggravated Cyberstalking

The charge becomes aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony, in three situations:

The offender makes a credible threat along with the cyberstalking. A credible threat is a verbal or nonverbal threat, including one implied by a pattern of conduct, that puts the victim in reasonable fear for their safety or a family member’s safety. The state does not have to prove the offender actually intended to carry it out.¹
The cyberstalking violates an existing injunction for protection against domestic, repeat, sexual, or dating violence, or any other court-imposed no-contact order.
The victim is a child under 16.

A third-degree felony conviction carries up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $5,000.³

Getting a Protective Injunction

Criminal charges are not the only path for a victim. Section 784.0485 creates a specific civil injunction for protection against stalking, and the statute explicitly includes cyberstalking.⁴ A victim, or the parent or guardian of a minor child living at home, can petition the circuit court directly.

The process is built to work without a lawyer. The clerk cannot charge a filing fee. The statute states that neither side needs an attorney. Clerks are required to provide simplified petition forms, filing instructions, and help with the process. You can file in the circuit where you live, where the respondent lives, or where the stalking happened, with no minimum residency requirement.

The petition has to describe the specific facts of the stalking. The court then sets a hearing as soon as possible, and if there is evidence of stalking a judge can issue a temporary injunction right away. Relief is broad: a no-contact order, mandatory counseling or treatment at the respondent’s expense, and directives to law enforcement. Violating the injunction turns any further cyberstalking into aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony.

When Federal Law Also Applies

Because internet communication almost always crosses state lines, federal law can overlap with Florida’s statute. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, it is a federal crime to use an interactive computer service or electronic communication system of interstate commerce in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes or would reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress. The statute protects the victim, immediate family, spouses, intimate partners, and even pets or service animals.⁵

Federal penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b) are heavier than Florida’s. A standard conviction carries up to five years. Serious bodily injury raises it to ten. Death can bring life imprisonment. Violating a protective order while committing federal stalking carries a mandatory minimum of one year.⁶ Most cases still get handled at the state level, but the federal option exists, especially for conduct that crosses jurisdictions or stalls locally.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

A conviction, and sometimes just a protective order, can carry effects that outlast the jail time or probation.

Federal law bars firearm possession for anyone subject to a qualifying protective order that restrains them from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), if the order was issued after a hearing with notice and an opportunity to participate, and it includes a credible-threat finding or explicitly prohibits force, the person cannot possess firearms or ammunition while the order is in effect.⁷ The restriction applies even without a criminal conviction on the underlying conduct.

Professional licenses are also at risk. Licensing boards in healthcare, education, law, and finance review criminal histories, and convictions involving intentional harm or threatening behavior can trigger discipline. A felony for aggravated cyberstalking is a particular problem, since many licensing authorities treat felonies as presumptive grounds for denial or revocation.

And the record itself follows a person. Cyberstalking convictions show up on background checks for jobs, housing, and volunteer positions. Conduct that may have started with a handful of impulsive messages can produce consequences well out of proportion to what the sender thought they were risking.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 784.048 – Stalking; Definitions; Penalties
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 836.115 – Cyberintimidation by Publication
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 784.0485 – Stalking; Injunctions for Protection
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 2261A – Stalking
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 2261 – Interstate Domestic Violence
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 922 – Unlawful Acts