We’ve seen divorcing celebrities vent their pain and anger at one another on social media. Often, it’s one spouse (usually the one who can’t move on) who takes this route while the other attempts to keep some semblance of privacy and civility.
However, you don’t have to be famous to experience digital bullying by your soon-to-be-ex. Besides being personally hurtful, a spouse who weaponizes social media against you can damage your career, your business and your personal and professional reputation. If you have children who are old enough to be aware of it (or have friends who are), it can be particularly harmful to them.
Digital bullying can involve “revenge porn.” It can also involve accessing a spouse’s personal email accounts, bank accounts and more. That’s why it’s crucial to change all of your login and password information and stay away from anything your spouse might be able to guess.
California law addresses it better than most states
Fortunately, California is one of a few states where “coercive control” is considered a form of domestic violence. That means that if your estranged spouse is harassing, threatening or otherwise harming you or someone else (like a new significant other, family member or business partner), you can seek help from the court to get them to stop.
Someone who engages in digital bullying is doing nothing to help themselves in the divorce. It’s certainly not going to make a judge look favorably on them if they’re deciding matters like property division and support. Depending on their behavior, it could potentially affect their child custody rights.
If you’re dealing with a soon-to-be-ex who has become a digital bully, you don’t have to put up with it. Make sure that you speak up before it gets even worse.