[Samantha Markle] It's not just me.

It's happening, all around the world,
to people.

And, these people know
that they can get away with it,

if they -- or, they think they can,

if they go hide under a VPN.

'Hey, they won't know my ISP,
if I do this through a VPN.'

So, it makes it harder
for law enforcement to get them.

So, one of the things that
twitter, and facebook,

and Instagram, and others
can do,

to help law enforcement,

and help keep their 
participants safe:

biometrics.

If you get on your computer,
to sign in,

you're using face recognition.

Or, your fingerprint.

Or, your -- or your I. D.

Is that a violation
of freedom and privacy?

Hell, no.

Because they're not out --
they're out there violating others'

freedom and privacy,
to the extent of criminal acts.

Criminals are not guaranteed anonymity,
under any law.

If they're going to be out there
breaking laws,

and -- and -- committing crime,

you're --- you're not entitled
to privacy and protection under the law,

of your face, and your I. D., and your --
no, I --

I think you have an onus,

as a mature, responsible user
of these social interfaces,

to be transparent.

You know, yeah -- I'm not out there
committing criminal acts, and

I'm going to prove it, by
letting everybody know who I am.

You know, by being transparent.

That's just how I feel.

[Staci DaSilva] So when did you start
getting harassed?

[S. Markle] So, I started getting harassed

around the time of the 
royal wedding.

And, and -- the moment that
people knew

that I disagreed with some things
about my sister,

such as, you know,

not inviting both sides
of the family,

and, um...

the possibility of my book
coming out.

That was another
controversial subject.

I started getting threats,

and people would send
and tweet

photographs of me
being viewed

through a high-powered scope,

behind broken glass,

with my face in targets.

You know, if that's not
obvious symbolism,

I don't know what is.

But, it was all 
with the intent to

intimidate,
keep me in fear,

uh, prevent me from
releasing my book.

And you can't do that
to people.

We have freedom of speech.

And, just because

someone might not like
what I have to say,

or that I have
a book coming out,

doesn't mean that they can

engage in criminal activity,

coersion, threats, intimidation,

to prevent my exercising
my freedom of speech.

[S. DaSilva] Was this on
facebook and twitter?

[S. Markle] Mmm-hmm.

And I don't have an
Instagram account.

I started one
several years ago,

and, like I just,

I think I said "Hello?"

I never used it,

but it's got
thousands of followers.

And, it gets daunting.

Like I can't, I can't
go, and get to

every platform, and say,

"Hey, shut this down,
it's not me,"

so, there are so many
fake accounts out there,

that are out there saying
disparaging things,

and parody accounts.

Those are also attempts at
this, you know,

uh, defamation, libel, slander,
bullying. Uh --

[S. DaSilva] How often do you
hear from these trolls?

I mean, on your social media
accounts?

[S. Markle] Um, I shut it down,
so I don't see their mentions.

Because it got to the point

where they were always
mentioning me,

trying to, you know,

flag themselves,
and get attention,

and say horrible things,
and Photoshop and

create things to villainize
or criminalize me.

I just thought, you know,
"That's not real."

And, for people out there

who are bullied in cyberspace,

you know, I want -- I just --

especially young people.

I want to say,

"You really can't 
give that legs."

"You can't give it breath."

"It's not real, unless

you allow it to consume you,
and you make it real."

Um, so...

you know, teenagers, who
go through this.

They don't have the resouces

to leave their high schools,

or move out of their
communities,

and they are very trapped.

And it's overwhelming for them.

And, some of these trolls

have such a large presence,

creating bots, and multiple avatars,

that these teenagers feel like

they're being attacked
by hundreds of people,

when, really, they're not.

They're being attacked by a few,

who make themselves out
to be bigger.

Well, that's what bullies do.

They puff their chest.

They want to feel big.

They want to feel like
they've got a lot of power.

And, for teenagers,

it's often inescapable, and

it results in suicidal ideation,
and even suicide.

So, they need strong support systems.

Their parents, their friends.
They need counseling.

But, more than that,

they need to remember
that these people

are only real, and powerful,
if you let them be.

It's important to reach out,
and communicate,

and call them on what 
they are doing,

before they become
a real problem.

[S. DaSilva] You had to leave
your home, correct?

How many times
have you had to move?

[S. Markle] Twice.

[S. DaSilva] Twice. And, from 
Florida, to Virginia?

[S. Markle] I moved from Florida
to Virginia,

and then, the same thing
happened in Virginia.

They were sharing my address,

and asking me if 
it sounded familiar.

Um, showing pictures of me,
behind a scope.

But, it got worse than that.

They were sharing, uh, images
of me, being seen through

our security cameras.

Or, me, outside, with 
my boyfriend

helping me
get into my vehicle.

That could've only been
planted in trees, or

seen through 
our own devices.

Which let me know
that I was very hacked,

and I was being watched.

Um, they shared pictures

of my boyfriend, looking at himself

on his own cell phone.

Which let me know

that they had hacked
our devices.

And, their apps had
camera access.

And, they were mentioning

conversations that we had
in our living room,

about money,
or other things.

And they would say,

"Hey, what about that
thousand dollars?"

So, they were
acquiescing

to not only stalking,

but hacking.

For someone like me...

I'm a counselor,

I'm pretty intelligent,

you know, I think 
I can handle it, and

analyze it for what it is?

But, for a teenager...

who is, you know,

going through identity crisis,

and, you know,

has a self-esteem

that is not totally 
evolved, yet?

It can be terrifying.

When you know
you are being watched,

and everything that you do

is being twisted,

and used against you,
to defame you,

and to threaten.

So -- yeah, cyber-bullying
is horrible,

and I think that
the burden really needs

to be on social media 
platforms.

Twitter, facebook, 
Instagram. All of them.

Um, especially the new ones,
coming up.

To have strict 
identification measures

in place, for its users,
to prevent this.

[S. DaSilva] So, you moved 
to Polk county

about six months ago?

[S. Markle] Yeah.

[S. DaSilva] Did you 
want to say

what town we are in,
right now?

Or would you want to
just keep it at Polk county?

[S. Markle] Yeah.

[S. DaSilva] Okay.

Why did you choose
Polk county?

[S. Markle] It's gorgeous.

I love the lakes,
I love, you know --

it's, uh -- it's
a little more central.

Where I was --
Well, I didn't like fire ants.

In Ocala, it seemed to be
just one of those things

that was indigenous 
to the area, so.

Um, but I really...

I wanted the happy medium.

Being close to water,

as I was in 
Southern California.

And here, I have it,
without the smog.

But, I have family here,

and I love the people here.

So, I'm staying.

[S. DaSilva] Okay.

And, you moved about
six months ago.

And, this summer,

you filed a complaint
with the sheriff's office.

Why did you do that?

[S. Markle] Because,

I was being
stalked and harassed.

Uh, my boyfriend
got a ticket

for a tail light
on a trailer, being out.

And, it was supposed
to stay confidential.

But, the address
on that ticket

was somehow released,
because

trolls were able to comb through

courthouse computer databases.

The problem with that is,
that, you know --

yeah, some courthouse records
are private,

but it wasn't in the news.

And, I was having my
identity and my location

protected by a real estate 
company,

under the circumstances.

[S. DaSilva] Can we just 
take that time code down?

Because she said the address,

and we did want to
put this interview online?

So, I don't think we want to
put the address online.

[S. Markle] Okay.

[S. DaSilva] Correct?

[S. Markle] Sorry.

[S. DaSilva] If you could just --

[Man] About 14:56. 
Right around there.

[S. DaSilva] Okay.

Just so, when we go back,
we can take that out, for you.

[Man] Be careful.

[S. Markle] I know, I know.

[S. DaSilva] Um, sorry.
14:56 something?

[Man] Yeah,
right around 14:56, yeah.

[S. DaSilva] Okay.

[S. Markle] Okay.
[S. DaSilva] Okay, sorry.

[S. Markle] So, so.

They were saying:

"Hey, does this number
or this street match?"

"Does this sound familiar?"

And, I, you know --

in other words, they 
were taunting me,

with my address, 
and my location,

letting me know

that they were out there,
sharing it.

They were also sharing, um,
screenshot admissions

of having my
Social Security number.

Then, they said, they said,

"Oh, but we guessed
your Social Security number."

Well, out of all the billions
of possible combinations?

That couldn't be possible.

So -- you know,
they were telling on themselves.

And the bottom line, here,
is that

there is very private information
that they were actively, all day,

obsessed about and combing,
to get every little detail about me.

That acquiesces to stalking.

Because uh, uh, you know,
someone who you don't know

doesn't have a right 
to be looking,

to see if there is
anything about you in court,

to see what's going on
with your medical records.

To share your address.

To be direct messaging people 
and asking questions about you.

Unless they are a reporter,
or they have some valid reason,

for...getting every piece of information
they can, about you,

and taunting you with it.

Like: "Hey, what about this?
And what about that?"

Well, who are you,

to ask me "What about this
and what about that?"

And, to try and spin it,

to villainize or criminalize me?

So, for -- I can see how,
for teenagers,

that's overwhelming.

[S. DaSilva] Mm-hm. Yeah.
You talked about the teenagers.

But, has the sheriff's office
been open to your complaint,

and taking it seriously?

[S. Markle] Yeah, since we started
this whole thing.

You know, I showed them
everything,

and let them know
what was going on.

And, you know, I --
I'm really lucky,

to live in a state
that takes that seriously.

You know, the cyber-stalking
and "stand your ground" laws.

I feel really safe.

And it's nice to know

that law enforcement 
is proactive about that.

You know, you can't
do that to a person.

You can't taunt them,
put them in fear,

um, intimidate them --

harass them --

and encourage others,
on a wide scale,

to engage in
targeted harassment.

It's -- nobody, nobody
deserves to live like that.

And, certainly not
for expressing freedom of speech.

Because, you're a journalist.

If you did a report, and somebody
didn't like something you had to say,

You know...it's really psychotic,
that anybody would

go to that extreme, 
to suppress what you have to say,

and to make every corner of your life
public information,

twisting it in a negative way.

To put you in fear, or shame.

[S. DaSilva] And, your reaction to
the news spreading across the world

that you were the target
of the investigation for

things you have said
about your sister,

vs. what actually is happening.

[S. Markle] Well -- and I think
that's really important too,

because there is a problem
with aggregate news.

I understand that journalists
and bloggers get so busy,

and a lot of them, you know --

there is often, on one side
of, you know, the coin,

there is paid P. R. 
that spins things.

But there is also
aggregate news error, that happens.

When they see fragments
of information,

they don't have a lot
of time to pop the stories out,

and they just copy them verbatim.

Maybe, with extra words,
and spin it a little bit more.

And suddenly,
the victim becomes the suspect.

Because someone didn't understand

what "being at the center 
of investigation" means.

Well, it doesn't mean
I'm the suspect.

And, they didn't ask.
They didn't bother to ask.

They just assumed,
and put it in print,

that I was the suspect,
not the victim.

Shouldn't happen.

[S. DaSilva] So there, as you --
Are you afraid for your life?

Here in Polk county?

[S. Markle] Well, yeah, I have been.

And, and, you know,
if you can imagfine

seeing your face
on a bulls-eye

behind broken glass,
or on a dartboard.

And, pictures of someone
like Matt Damon,

looking through a
high-powered scope,

a clip from a film, 
or a GIF.

And, "You can run
but you can't hide, Samantha."

Those things are symbolic,
and they are put out there

with the intent
of putting you in fear.

Intimidating you,

preventing you from
publishing a book,

um -- which happened, too.
You know...

"We're gonna,
if you put your book out,

we're gonna download it,
and share it for free,

so nobody buys it."

Those are -- those are 
intimidation, uh, tactics,

that are against the law.

On many levels.

And so, yeah,
it was scary for me.

I am in a wheelchair.

I don't need to feel like,

I am a slow moving target,
going out of my own home.

Nobody has a right
to do that to me, and

they are subject
to legal sanction.

It's just -- that's not how
a legal, you know,

high functioning society
operates.

And, those criminals need
to be made examples of.

They need to experience
specific deterrents, under the law.

And, they need to be
made out to be, you know,

examples of general deterrents.

So other would-be 
cyber-bullies know,

"Hey, don't do the crime,
if you can't do the time,"

and most local
law enforcement,

local and federal
law enforcement agencies,

will come get ya.

You know, VPN or not,

there are ways to
find these offenders.

[S. DaSilva] What do you say
to critics who say,

"You spoke out. You know,
you were vocal, you wrote a book."

[S. Markle] Well --

[S. DaSilva] "You tweeted..."

[S. Markle] But, writing a book
and speaking out...

you know, my father
had two heart attacks.

I didn't agree with
my sister's treatment of the family.

That does not give
some of these unhinged people

license, or the right

to engage in criminal activity
against me.

Stalk, harass, incite violence
against me.

It's like, any of us
who have fought

for freedom of speech,

whether the issue
is gender, race, political issues,

just because you say something

doesn't give people who disagree 
with you,

the right to put you in fear
and suppress your opinion,

by threatening you
when you do.

And that, you know --

I think that's what
we really need to make a precedent.

We're not tolerating this
any more.

We all have to 'agree to disagree'
under the law,

because if you take it
beyond those legal boundaries,

and you engage in
criminal activity, intent,

you know, um --
intimidation, and harassment,

um, with the intent
to put someone in fear,