X (Twitter) harassment: complaint, evidence and the law

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 2 Nov 2026 · Cyber crime

Harassment on X becomes a legal matter when posts threaten, defame, stalk or sexually humiliate you, not when they merely criticise. Archive the posts with timestamps, use X's reporting and grievance channels, and file a written police complaint under the BNS 2023 and IT Act 2000 where the conduct is an offence.

X is built for public argument. A post can reach thousands of strangers in an hour, and a disagreement can turn into a coordinated pile-on before the person at the centre of it has opened the app. That structure changes the legal analysis in two ways. First, publication is wider and faster, which makes defamation and intimidation more serious. Second, the evidence disappears quickly, because posts are deleted, accounts are suspended and threads are broken when a parent post is removed.

The law does not treat every hostile reply as harassment. Criticism of your work, disagreement with your views and even harsh language are protected expression. What crosses the line is a course of conduct aimed at frightening you, damaging your reputation with false statements, sexualising you without consent, or following you across accounts and platforms. The complaint you file should describe that conduct precisely, with dates and links, because a general allegation of harassment on a public platform is easy for everyone to deny.

Where abuse ends and an offence begins

Three questions usually separate the two. Is there a threat, express or implied, of physical harm or of publishing private material? Is there a false statement of fact presented as true, which a reasonable reader would believe and which harms your reputation? Is there repetition, escalation or coordination, such as multiple accounts posting the same content or a campaign to tag your employer? A single angry post rarely satisfies any of these. A pattern often satisfies all three.

Intention matters in criminal law, and it is inferred from conduct. A post that names you, tags your workplace, uses a hashtag to draw a crowd and repeats over days is evidence of intent to harass. A one-line insult in a thread is not. That distinction is why the chronology you build in the first day is more valuable than a folder of unrelated screenshots.

The sections a complainant should know

For conduct from 1 July 2024, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 applies; earlier conduct is governed by the corresponding Indian Penal Code provisions. Section 351 BNS covers criminal intimidation, which includes threats of injury to reputation or property made with intent to cause alarm or to compel someone to do an act. Section 352 BNS covers intentional insult and interruption intending to provoke a breach of the peace. Section 356 BNS covers defamation, and the exception for truth made in the public interest is narrower than people assume.

Where the target is a woman, further sections apply. Section 78 BNS covers stalking, including following a woman online, contacting her against her wishes and monitoring her use of the internet. Section 77 BNS covers voyeurism, and section 75 BNS covers sexual harassment, which includes unwelcome sexual advances and the showing of pornography against her will. Where private images are threatened or published, sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act 2000 apply to obscene and sexually explicit material respectively.

Impersonation on X is common and has its own provisions. A fake account using your name and photograph can attract section 66C of the IT Act 2000 for identity theft and section 66D for cheating by personation where money or property was obtained. Section 336 BNS covers forgery where a fabricated screenshot or document was posted as genuine. Section 340 BNS covers using a forged document as genuine.

Procedure decides whether any of this moves. Section 173 BNSS 2023 governs the recording of information at a police station. Many harassment offences are non-cognizable, which means the station needs a Magistrate's order before investigating, and section 175(3) BNSS 2023 is the provision under which that order is sought. Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 sets out how the electronic record, meaning the posts and the platform's data, is proved in court.

What the platform will and will not do

X has reporting flows for abuse, threats, private information and impersonation. Reports are assessed against the platform's own rules, which are broader than the law in some respects and narrower in others. A post can breach the platform's policy without being an offence, and can be an offence without breaching policy. Reporting is still worth doing, because a removed post is a harm stopped, and the removal notice is useful evidence.

Under section 79 of the IT Act 2000 read with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, a significant social media intermediary must publish a grievance officer, acknowledge a complaint within twenty-four hours and resolve it within fifteen days. X maintains an India grievance channel for this purpose, though how quickly it responds has varied in practice. Keep the ticket number and the dates. If the response is inadequate, that record supports an argument that the intermediary failed in its due diligence obligations.

Archiving and evidence

Do not rely on the post staying up while you decide what to do. Archive first. A full-page capture should show the account handle, the display name, the timestamp and the post text in one frame. Capture the thread, the replies and any quote posts that repeated the content. Record a screen video scrolling slowly from the top of the thread to the bottom so the sequence is unambiguous.

Save the URL of each post. Where the account is anonymous, the handle and the numeric account identifier in the URL are what an investigating officer needs to request subscriber details. Save any direct messages in the same way. If the abuse arrived by email notification, keep the email, because its headers carry routing information that a screenshot does not.

If the material is defamatory and you intend to sue, preserve the reach as well as the text. Quote posts, reposts, replies and the number of views shown on the post all speak to publication. Do not exaggerate reach; record what the interface actually displays. Courts weigh evidence of publication, not indignation.

The steps in sequence

Stop responding. One clear request to stop, in writing, is useful. A public argument is not. After that request, do not engage at all.
Archive everything. Screenshots with timestamps, a screen recording of the thread, the URLs, and any direct messages. Back the archive up to a second location.
Report on X and through the grievance channel. Report each offending post and the account. For serious abuse, use the grievance officer channel and note the ticket number and the date.
Write a chronology. A table with date, time, account, content, audience and effect. Attach numbered exhibits. This document is what you will hand to the police and to a court.
Decide whether the conduct is an offence. Threats, sexual harassment, stalking, impersonation and extortion are offences. Insults in an argument usually are not. If you are unsure, take advice before filing, because a weak complaint is harder to escalate later.
Give a written complaint to the police station. Choose the station with jurisdiction over the place where you received the content or where the harm to reputation occurred. Ask for the receipt. Where the offence is cognizable, information is recorded under section 173 BNSS 2023.
Apply to the Magistrate where the police decline. For non-cognizable offences the station cannot investigate without an order. File a complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate under section 175(3) BNSS 2023 and keep proof of the earlier refusal.
Report on cybercrime.gov.in. Use the social media category for harassment and impersonation. The reference number links your complaint to a national record and is useful when following up.
Consider a civil injunction. Where false posts continue and damage is ongoing, a suit for defamation with an interim injunction application can stop republication. This runs alongside the criminal case and does not depend on it.
Follow up in writing. Ask the investigating officer for the case number and status at intervals. Supply new evidence as it appears, and keep copies of every letter.

What decides how the case is treated

Whether the conduct is framed as a cognizable or non-cognizable offence determines the speed. A threat of physical harm is treated more seriously than an insult. A sexual harassment complaint involving images is treated more seriously than a political argument that turned ugly. The sections named in your written complaint influence that framing, which is why precision at the first filing matters more than volume.

Attribution is the second factor. X accounts are frequently anonymous or operated through pseudonyms. Subscriber records and IP logs are available to an investigating officer through lawful requests, but the request must be made while the data is retained. If the account is suspended before the request, the trail becomes much harder to reconstruct.

The third factor is your own record. If you replied with abuse, the accused will use it to suggest a mutual quarrel. If you made one calm request to stop and then disengaged, your conduct supports the complaint. Courts notice the difference.

The fourth factor is the audience and the harm. A post that reached your employer, your clients or a local community creates a demonstrable reputational injury. A post that reached twelve people in a private thread is a smaller harm, though still actionable if it was threatening.

The fifth factor is the forum's response. A platform that removed the content and confirmed the breach strengthens your account. A platform that left it up, after a documented complaint, gives you an argument about inadequate redressal.

What not to do

Do not quote-post or screenshot the abuse to your own followers to shame the person. It widens publication of the very material you say harmed you, and it can support a counter-complaint.
Do not publish the alleged harasser's address, family details or workplace. That can amount to harassment by you and can be restrained by a court.
Do not delete your account to escape. It removes your evidence and does not stop the conduct.
Do not file in several states at once. Parallel complaints on identical facts usually produce a transfer and a delay.
Do not accept a public apology as a substitute for preserving evidence if the conduct was serious. An apology can be withdrawn or denied later.

A Kolkata complainant normally files the portal complaint with the district cyber crime unit and the FIR at the local station. Bail hearings after an arrest go before the Bankshall Court or the City Sessions Court, and anticipatory bail or quashing petitions go to the Calcutta High Court. Complainants rarely reach the High Court, but the sections in the FIR determine whether the accused can seek anticipatory bail before arrest, so the framing at the station has consequences far beyond the first week.

When to involve a lawyer

A short burst of abuse that stops after one report may need nothing more than a platform complaint. Legal help is worth taking when the campaign is sustained, when false statements are affecting your work or reputation, when you need an urgent injunction, when the police classify the conduct as non-cognizable and will not investigate, or when you are accused of harassment and the complaint misdescribes what you posted. The firm's work in this area is described on the West Bengal cyber law page, and the defence-side guides are under criminal defense.

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Frequently asked questions

Is harassment on X a criminal offence in India?

It depends on the conduct. Threats attract section 351 BNS 2023, repeated abusive messages section 352, defamation section 356, stalking of a woman section 78, sexual harassment section 75, and obscene or sexually explicit material sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act 2000. Criticism and harsh disagreement are not offences. A sustained campaign intended to frighten or humiliate you can be.

How do I report harassment on X to the police in India?

Archive the posts first, then give a written complaint with the chronology and exhibits to the station having jurisdiction over the place where you received the content or where your reputation was harmed. Ask for a receipt. Where the offence is cognizable, information is recorded under section 173 BNSS 2023. Also file on cybercrime.gov.in for a national reference.

What evidence should I archive from X before the posts are deleted?

Full-page screenshots showing the handle, display name, timestamp and text in one frame, the post URL, a screen recording of the thread, and any quote posts or replies that repeated the content. Save direct messages and email notifications with headers. Back everything up to a second location, because accounts are often deleted or suspended.

What if the police say X harassment is non-cognizable?

Many harassment offences are non-cognizable, so the station cannot investigate without an order. Ask for your complaint to be recorded, then file a complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate under section 175(3) BNSS 2023, who may direct investigation. Keep proof of the date you first complained and of any refusal.

Can I sue someone for a defamatory post on X?

Yes. Defamation is both a criminal offence under section 356 BNS 2023 and a civil wrong. A civil suit can seek damages and an injunction restraining further publication, and an interim application can be moved quickly where the harm is continuing. Truth in the public interest is a defence the other side may raise, so the exact words matter.

Does X remove abusive accounts when I report them?

X assesses reports against its own rules, which do not map exactly onto Indian law. A post can breach platform policy without being an offence and the reverse is also true. Removal is worth pursuing because it stops the harm and the removal notice is evidence, but it produces no finding against the person and does not replace a police complaint.

Can an anonymous X account be traced by the police?

Often, yes, but only through lawful process. An investigating officer can request subscriber details and IP logs from the platform for a specific handle and post. The request must be made before retention periods expire and before the account is deleted or suspended. That is why the FIR should be filed quickly rather than after weeks of trying platform reports.

Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.

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