Bevan Chuang supports law changes after being stalked online.
The woman who had an affair with Auckland Mayor Len Brown has spoken in support of cyber-bullying laws before Parliament, saying that online abuse was not limited to teenagers and that she was being stalked and relentlessly attacked on social media.
Bevan Chuang, a former Auckland Council adviser, made thecomments in a written submission on the Harmful Digital Communications Bill, which will introduce new penalties for posting objectionable material online.
In her submission, she said she had followed online watchdog Netsafe's advice to "block, report and ignore" online abusers.
Despite her actions, one woman had continued to stalk and bully her online. She did not name the person but said she was "known for her bullying behaviour".
"She bragged about how she found my social media accounts and will 'bring me down'. Since then I have received an unusual increase of followers who wanted to take screenshots so that they can bully me on other social media platforms.
"Her actions went beyond posting rumor [sic] or gossips [sic] about me in the internet bringing about hatred in other's minds; but it went to the extent of personally identifying the victim and publishing materials severely defaming and humiliating me."
She said Netsafe's guidelines had worked to an extent but she fully supported law changes which, if passed, would provide greater protection for individuals and new avenues for reporting and removing abuse.
