Ontario Recognizes Tort Of Online Harassment

In Caplan v. Atas¹, the Superior Court of Justice recognized a new common law tort of online harassment. This case reflects a departure from a recent decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario which overturned the recognition of a common law tort of harassment².

What you need to know

• The defendant in this case had engaged in a long history of abuse and harassment over the internet. The court concluded that the available remedies available to the plaintiffs were inadequate and recognized the new tort of "harassment in internet communications".
• The test for the new tort is stringent. A plaintiff must show that that they suffered harm and that the defendant "maliciously or recklessly engages in communications conduct; so outrageous in character, duration, and extreme in degree, so as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and tolerance", with the "intent to cause fear, anxiety, emotional upset or to impugn the dignity of the plaintiff"³.