Legal Responses to Algorithmic Harassment and Digital Coercion in Intimate Contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63331/upasw/33/27Keywords:
algorithmic harassment, digital coercion, intimate partner abuse, AI and law, privacy rightsAbstract
Intimacy has become algorithmically disrupted in the digital era. The introduction of algorithmic companion suggestions, AI-powered surveillance in social interactions, and deeper transformations to connection have changed human interactions, power, manipulation, and harm. This paper examines an emerging, yet under-explored area of law: algorithmic harassment and digital coercion in intimate situations. Existing legal mechanisms for addressing intimate harmb - roadly termed as physical and psychological abuse - are not sufficient to address the complex nature of silent intrusions of algorithmic manipulation - covert surveillance, nudging of behaviours, and personalization that strips away autonomy. Using literature from multiple disciplinary sources, this paper will provide a critical evaluation of the existing international legal mechanisms for addressing intimate harm and will argue that the complex nature of the harassments discussed requires a legal re-imagining in terms of algorithmic harassment and coercion as a distinct form of intimate harm that requires regulation and platform accountability and part of a the broader legal framework of rights-based protection. By shedding light on the absence of visibility regarding algorithmic abuse, this paper contributes to the areas where law, technology, and human vulnerability intersect, at a time where legal reform is needed, due, and obviously inescapable.
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