Gamergate is all over the internet and it has put a spotlight on online trolling.
Which
brings up an interesting question: Is sending hateful or threatening messages over
social media even legal?
Well, sort of.
To be honest, the law is pretty unclear about this.
20 US states currently
have cyberbullying laws, but they are mainly designed to protect school-age kids.
Only
one state, illinois, has officially extended their bullying law to include adults.
Plus, only a
few states even bother to define what cyberbullying even is.
So, prosecuting someone
under current cyberbullying laws is proving very difficult.
Some prosecutors are trying to
use other laws to combat online trolling.
Laws like the Interstate Communications Act,
the Telephone Harassment Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
But those laws
weren’t specifically designed to combat cyberbullying, so their legality doesn’t
really
hold.
And the battle against online bullying doesn’t appear to be getting any easier,
because when clearer anti-trolling legislation does come up, it usually fails due to
concerns over our First Amendment Rights.
Many legislators fear that the broad
wording of some of these new laws will lead to people getting arrested for exercising
their right to free speech.
They fear that something as simple as making a joke online
could end in prosecution.
Other bills are knocked down because of their wording.
Arizona House Bill 2549 prohibited the use of any electronic device to “intimidate,
threaten, harass, annoy or offend”.
Opponents argued that the word “offend” was too
subjective.
So, the law was never passed.
But there is still hope.
Right now Europe is leading the way in the fight against trolls.
In 2013 numerous trolls tweeted sexist and violent threats towards a woman leading
a campaign to get more women on English Bank Notes.
Two of the harassers were
found, arrested and charged under the UK’s Communications Act.
They were both fined
and jailed.
The UK may also pass a new law that will increase the maximum jail time
for internet trolls from six months to two years.
Italy is not only going after trolls, it has
threatened prosecution of the social media sites that host the anonymous hate.
The
European Union has come together to try to stop trolling as well, including the Istanbul
Convention, which protects both men and women against stalking and “emerging
concerns” such as cyberstalking.
Though most laws across Europe are still vague or
incomplete, so prosecutions are hard to come by.
With all of that said, there are other ideas for fighting online trolling: websites could
regulate their users more aggressively; they could also enact policies designed to strip
away anonymity online; police could be encouraged to take online harassment more
seriously; and finally, people could also just stop it with the trolling.
It is
the worst.