Internet trolls face up to two years in jail in Britain
- Thread starter The Midnight
- Start date
Just like you can't walk into a 7-11 and tell the employee that you're going to rape them, or that you'll kill them -- you can't do it online either. I really see no harm in this type of legislation. If you threaten to kill someone, or in the case of the cited story, threaten to rape someone, then it's no longer "freedom of speech" and, frankly, way past the realm of "trolling". Is there potential for abuse of this power? Of course there is, but pretty much every drop of legislation has the potential for abuse. That's why we have a checks and balance type of system, so the kid who makes a rape joke in poor taste isn't going to go to jail, but the crazy write4u type of stalkers who actually go out of their way to make contact with people outside of the internet, end up behind bars.
Is there a similar legislation in the US at the moment?
The law prohibits more than just threats. It prohibits one from intending to cause a person "distress or anxiety" with any communication that is "indecent or grossly offensive," or that is "false and known or believed to be false by the sender."(https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/27/section/1)
It was famously used to arrest a man who claimed that a certain Olympian had let his father down.
Fascist nonsense, really.
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Duck Rodgers
Well-Known Member
Even without being abused, that's a blatant violation of free speech. I don't think that would fly in the U.S.
Never know.. with the government successfully instituting "Free Speech Zones" whereby you must stand within a roped off area if you care to voice your opinion. Didn't know it worked that way until recently.
freakazoid
Well-Known Member
Duck Rodgers
Well-Known Member
Here's another example of a high profile NZ/Australian model that committed suicide earlier this year after suffering from trolling. God bless her soul.
It's a real issue.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2565903/Trolled-death-Model-Charlotte-Dawson-bombarded-vile-messages-Twitter-just-hours-death.html
It's a real issue.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2565903/Trolled-death-Model-Charlotte-Dawson-bombarded-vile-messages-Twitter-just-hours-death.html
We already have this law, it's called libel. You can't say **** about people that you know isn't true, that can cause them to lose money, credibility, etc.
Are you sure that's what libel is? Because as far as I know, libel is publicly, and falsely, defaming someone. It has nothing to do with lying to them. Or is this what the law is saying. The wording is a bit vague.
Of course, the opposite is true at abortion clinics, where SCOTUS has said that "sidewalk counselors" can't be limited to specific zones.
HighlandHomie
Well-Known Member
This manipulative pig needs to be locked up too. She single-handily ruined a comedians career because she was offended by his jokes. LAPD released a statement that Pepper has never been charged or even investigated for anything. What she does in this video is libelous. She feasts on the insecurities of mediocre people in her videos, and rallied all her supporters to get Pepper's Youtube partnership terminated as well as other opportunities he had.
This is trolling at it's finest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9qVaMhnJB8
This is trolling at it's finest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9qVaMhnJB8
Well, I was threatened with a libel suit during my campaign because of things I said on FaceBook, however, everything I said was actually true so he didn't have a pot to piss in. From what I understand though, if I had said something that I knew was false, then I could have been in some serious trouble.
** edit **
I missed the point, I think. The wording is vague, but it seems to me that this involves private correspondence rather than public. I don't know how lying to someone in an email can be considered a criminal act, but who knows. Maybe if I said something like, "I know where you live, I know where your parents live, I know your kids' class schedules and where they go to lunch every day..." And left it like that, that could be considered a false statement which could fall in the category of "causing anxiety or distress". Lots of room for abuse, yes, but again, what law doesn't have room for abuse. Jerkoff people will be jerkoffs, no matter what society does.
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Seconded.
