Looking beyond the law to respond to technology-facilitated violence and bullying: Lessons learned from Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit

Abstract

Legal remedies in response to technology-facilitated violence and bullying (TFVB) have often overshadowed the creation of alternative responses. While the framing of law as the most impactful remedy can result in the false belief that this issue has been adequately dealt with through legal regulation, in practice legal options are not utilized by the majority of those harmed by TFVB, do not provide many of the core supports that targets of TFVB seek to access, and offer limited possibilities for prevention and culture change. Responding to growing demands for alternative responses to TFVB, this article provides an analysis of the province of Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit—a government enforcement unit offering alternative supports and responses to TFVB—to explore the efficacy of implementing alternative responses to TFVB in practice.