Internet Trolling...should it be a criminal offence

[ziitch]

Speak, and let yourself be known. I know that's from something, but it explains a lot - Anonymity is a privilege, but not a right. And seeing how attention-grabbing western society wants to be these days, why do you think such a thing as trolling came to be? People want to be in the spotlight, but the moment it is on them, they don't know what to do or how to act and only make terrible representations of themselves.

 

Just gotta say, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. And if you can't think of anything to say that's nice, well, being mute isn't that bad.

[Ghogiel]

Speak, and let yourself be known. I know that's from something, but it explains a lot - Anonymity is a privilege, but not a right. And seeing how attention-grabbing western society wants to be these days, why do you think such a thing as trolling came to be? People want to be in the spotlight, but the moment it is on them, they don't know what to do or how to act and only make terrible representations of themselves.

 

Just gotta say, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. And if you can't think of anything to say that's nice, well, being mute isn't that bad.

And if you do go on to say something that someone finds offensive, throw them in jail!

[Syco21]

Anonymity is a privilege, but not a right.

Please post your full name, date of birth, home address, work address, marital status, number of offspring should you have any, home phone number, cellphone number, work number.

[JimboUK]

Anonymity is hugely important to free speech, would people honestly speak their mind if their employer or potential employer could find that opinion via a simple Google search? people would self censor much like they do in the workplace. Anonymity gives us an insight into what people are really thinking, sometimes it isn't pretty but it is a true reflection.

[Marxist ßastard]

Well, I don't really care what a bunch of hostile strangers are "really thinking." So then why is it so terrible if people self-censor in a public forum? Edited October 8, 2012 by Marxist ßastard

[Ghogiel]

Persecution for thinking differently happens. Having the ability to communicate or express yourself without fear is important.

[Marxist ßastard]

So write a damn book. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press has nothing to do with being entitled to harass random strangers on the Internet. Nobody ever started a revolution by shouting racial slurs at someone over X-Box.

[Ghogiel]

So write a damn book. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press has nothing to do with being entitled to harass random strangers on the Internet. Nobody ever started a revolution by shouting racial slurs at someone over X-Box.

Hate speech, ie racial slurs, have had their own laws, regardless of the way they are communicated, ie non digitally or otherwise.

 

What people are being imprisoned for is for the likes of writing crude jokes on their own facebook pages. Technically anyone could very well be charged and imprisoned for writing the same kinds of things, being offensive, and publishing it in a free Ebook.

 

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are similarly legislated.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Ghogiel

[mizdarby]

So write a damn book. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press has nothing to do with being entitled to harass random strangers on the Internet. Nobody ever started a revolution by shouting racial slurs at someone over X-Box.

Hate speech, ie racial slurs, have had their own laws, regardless of the way they are communicated, ie non digitally or otherwise.

 

What people are being imprisoned for is for the likes of writing crude jokes on their own facebook pages. Technically anyone could very well be charged and imprisoned for writing the same kinds of things, being offensive, and publishing it in a free Ebook.

 

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are similarly legislated.

But if 'free speech' is already legislated in the non-internet world, why not apply the exact same legislation in the internet world, to my mind anonymity is a privilige, not a green light to be as offensive or hostile as you like. In the city where I live, vandals have destroyed several childrens graves, and quite rightly the families of the deceased child, are demanding some sort of justice is served on the person/people who did the actual damage, and in the exact same way, if trollers had posted abusive/hurtful comments on the deceased childrens memorial sites, the familes should expect some sort of justice to be served on the person/people who did the actual trolling.

[JimboUK]

Anonymity when it comes to speech is not a privilege, it's a right, one which writers also often take advantage of and the press by protecting the identities of their sources. The state does not have the right to demand your identity before it lets you speak.

 

https://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity