Summary

Netflix’s true crime genre attracts a hungry audience with stories like Matthew Hardy’s cyberstalking spree.
“Can I Tell You a Secret?” covers only a fraction of the cyberbullying issue, missing crucial details.
Despite some flaws, the Netflix miniseries accurately depicts the events surrounding Hardy’s arrest and conviction.

Netflix has certainly found a hungry audience in the true crime genre, with the platform releasing countless miniseries and documentaries touching on various aspects of cases from around the globe. The most recent one to break Netflix’s top ten followed the case of Matthew Hardy, who in his native Britain stalked dozens of women using fake social profiles, images, and harassing friends and family.

A frightening instance of obsession, Can I Tell You a Secret? gave both a harrowing account from survivors of Hardy’s harassment and broke down the case. But did it capture all the details, and did it miss any greater truths about cyberbullying in the modern era? To answer, we will examine the true story behind the disturbing Netflix documentaryCan I Tell You a Secret?

The True Story Behind Can I Tell You a Secret?

Can I Tell You a Secret? is broken into two parts, with the first focusing on the trauma and confusion that befell three women who were stalked and harassed online. This initial part does a great job of capturing the emotional impact felt, but it also offers only a small glimpse into the scale of online harassment perpetrated by a single individual, Matthew Hardy. A native of Northwich, Cheshire, Matthew Hardy targeted 63 different women over the course of 11 years, starting in high school in 2009 by harassing other students.

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The second episode focuses more on the criminal process side, with the stories of the victims finally falling on sympathetic ears with Police Constable Kevin Anderson, leading to an investigation that finally pinned Matthew Hardy as the culprit. Prior to this push of both police and victims investigating, Hardy hid behind numerous fake accounts like others and thrived in anonymity to push his sadistic desires and ‘punish’ women. While the miniseries did an adequate job of laying down the timeline of events, its dramatic flair somewhat muddled the finer details of the events, which occurred as follows.

Investigation
Police Constable Kevin Anderson was assigned the case in 2019, offering the first real push to investigate and convict Hardy. Hardy was arrested in February 2020 and began to face heavy public scrutiny, eventually leading to formal charges in March 2021.
Court Proceedings
In October 2021, Hardy pleaded guilty to five counts of stalking involving fear of violence, with the other cases not approached due to various difficulties from legal system challenges, police response, and inadequate laws against cyberstalking. Matthew Hardy was sentenced to nine years in prison at Chester Crown Court in January 2022. Conviction
An appeal was made by Hardy and his legal team, which resulted in a reduction to eight years due to an oversight on a change to a stalking law and considerations of his neurodivergence. The details relayed in the Netflix miniseries are true to the events as they occurred and do not misinform viewers about what happened. At the same time, the series has received negative reviews for emphasizing the sensationalism of the case and not getting as much into the law and trial details.

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Can I Tell You a Secret? Conveys a Small Part of a Larger Problem

While Can I Tell You A Secret? touches on an extraordinarily dark case of cyber-stalking that shocked Britain, it does fail to capture the broader picture of online harassment and its growth both in size and methodology. This feels erroneous given how recent the cases are and offers little insight into prevention beyond stating social media companies should be more accountable. Arguably true, but also limited in approaching the scope of the problem when considering the primary tool used in cyberstalking cases was harassment through text messaging, email, phone, or cell phone, making up to 61% of cyberstalking cases in 2023 (Via Safe Home).

As outlined by C.A. Goldberg, a victim’s rights law firm in New York, the means of online stalking have only been made more accessible and easy with the continued growth of AI. Matthew Hardy was not particularly tech-savvy but rather used existing information to track people down to source information about his victims to torment them further. Hardy also targeted women with a large social presence, allowing him to access photos and contacts by going through their bios. Yet, deepfake adult content is a potentially greater threat to compromising one’s image and is only recently being addressed, with ten states only recently looking to introduce legislation to curb sexualized AI images made without consent (Via US News).

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The documentary also leaves the viewer with a sense of ‘we got him and made an example of him,’ which includes the longer sentence, which was rare in such cases of stalking, with proper sentencing and protection for victims still lacking in many court systems. However, Matthew Hardy presents one of a few, with cyber crimes and stalking becoming more prominent today and often at the hands of more complex criminals. This includes a sharp incline around the years that the documentary takes place, 2019-20, where in the US alone, the rate of reported cybercrime increased from 3.2 to 4.7 million (via Beyond Identity).

How well Can I Tell You a Secret? conveys the story of the victims and the crimes of Matthew Hardy is debatable. Yet the series certainly misses the bigger picture it tries to address. If there is any missed truth in the Netflix Original, it is what it does not discuss in focusing on stories over facts that are relevant to the evolving world of cyberstalking.

Where to Watch Can I Tell You A Secret?
Netflix

Can I Tell You a Secret? is a Netflix Original true-crime miniseries, joining the ever-growing catalog of immersive and well-produced miniseries published by the platform, including the likes of Abducted in Plain Sight, Athlete A, Girl in the Picture, and The Keepers, to name but a few that have made the platform a go-to for true-crime fans. Can I Tell You a Secret? debuted as the third most-watched series; exclusive to the platform, you can only watch it on Netflix.

Watch Can I Tell You a Secret? on Netflix