'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Netflix continues its true crime documentaries with Can I Tell You A Secret? arriving on the platform on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
The show brings to the fore the menace of cyberstalking on social media platforms as early as the 2000s. The culprit in the case covered by the two-part documentary, Matthew Hardy, was found guilty and punished in 2022.
Netflix took up the story recently to bring it to a widespread audience and raise awareness. The story was previously documented in an investigation podcast by Guardian journalist Sirin Kale in seven episodes.
The Netflix docuseries is produced by Mindhouse production house’s Louis Theroux. The latest true crime series presents the stories of the victims and how the delay in bringing justice affected them.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers and advises reader’s discretion.
Can I Tell You A Secret?: What is the series about?
Can I Tell You A Secret? is a true crime documentary describing one of the most prolific and long-running cyberstalking recorded in the legal world. The culprit was Matthew Hardy who harassed numerous women using social media platforms.
Most of Matthew’s victims were women who had many followers and connections on social media. While he stalked women of different ages and locations on social media, he also created fake accounts in their names to jeopardize their personal and social connections.
The Netflix show, Can I Tell You A Secret?, interviewed some of the victims like Zoe Jade Hallam, a model, boutique owner Lia Hambly and performer Abby Furness.
The interaction with the stalker started with the titular question of the show – “Can I tell you a secret?” – from a supposed well-meaning friendly woman, but the disclosure of the secrets was malicious and hurtful.
Each victim was stalked for years, and blocking one account would lead to more such fake accounts reaching out to the victims. If the recipients ignored the messages, they would receive calls from an unknown number where they could hear only breathing sounds on the other side.
To top the hateful actions, the perpetrator created fake accounts of the victims and sent fabricated lies to people connected to the victims. The messages contained claims about the victims doing horrifying, unspeakable things, causing social embarrassment for the unaware victims.
While multiple cases were registered against Matthew Hardy, the onslaught continued for about a decade.
Interviews of some of the victims reveal how they suffered socially and psychologically. As Abby Furness revealed, her boyfriend broke up with her after receiving a message that claimed that she was cheating on him.
In the case of Zoe, Matthew used her photographs on social media to set up multiple fake accounts to reach out to people she knew. He also pretended to be her partner’s father and chatted with her about associations with underage girls.
He also made up fake accounts of his victim’s partner’s father and messaged teenage girls, causing the aged doctor professional harm.
Who is Matthew Hardy of Can I Tell You A Secret?, and where is he now?
Matthew Hardy, the Can I Tell You A Secret? criminal, is a cyberstalker. Now aged 32, he started stalking women online from his school years in Cheshire. As told in the documentary by one of his early victims, the schoolmates figured out that all the fake and malicious messages were from Hardy.
As the reach of social media grew, Hardy’s web increased accordingly, and he continued to harass women unknown to him. He targeted women with large followings on social media, as the Netflix documentary explores. Despite multiple complaints, restraining orders and registered cases against him, Hardy continued with his online stalking.
Arrested in 2020, Hardy was charged in March 2021. He was sentenced to nine years in prison on January 26, 2022. In October 2022, Hardy’s lawyer pleaded for a reduction in the sentence based on autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
As such, his sentence has been reduced to eight years. Matthew Hardy is serving his prison sentence now, having been four and a half years behind bars.
What took justice and punishment so long?
Hardy received a restraining order in 2011 for hacking and harassing a former classmate.
He also received 250 hours of community service and a suspended prison sentence. However, he continued, leading to another restraining order in 2014 for hacking Amy Bailey’s account.
When women’s rights activist Gina Martin registered a complaint against him in 2016 for targeting her, the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring the case forward. When PC Kevin Anderson took up a stalking case in 2019 featuring Matthew Hardy, he found hundreds of complaints against him with 10 arrests.
While most of the victims complained in the documentary, Can I Tell You A Secret?, about not being taken seriously by the authorities, PC Anderson worked hard to bring justice. The Netflix series director Liza Williams pointed out that many victims faced “classic victim blaming”, as reported by the Independent.
Watch Can I Tell You A Secret? on Netflix.
Obsessed with Crosswords, Wordle, and other word games? Take our quick survey and let us get to know you better!
