A recent law established that people who make threats on the internet and use any kind of online abuse, also known as trolls, will be facing up to two years in prison, according to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. He said taking a stand against “a baying cyber-mob” was necessary. The initial maximum punishment for such online abuse was six months. This decision was announced a few days after Chloe Madeley suffered online abuse, in a crude and degrading manner, according to Grayling. The TV presenter had defended her mother, after she had made some comments about the rape accusations brought against football player Ched Evans. Her mother had stated that the rape was “non-violent” and that it had not caused any serious bodily harm.
The justice secretary declared: “We must send out a clear message – if you troll you risk being behind bars for two years”. Claire Hardaker is an academic from Lancaster University, who studies online aggressive behavior. She believes that proving the actual intent of a threat on the internet is quite difficult to establish. She said: “It’s like your mum sending you a text saying ‘I’m going to kill you’ because maybe you forgot to bring something that she asked you to bring, versus somebody on the internet saying ‘I’m going to kill you […] You have to know the intent of the two different people and to know the intent of the stranger on the internet you’ve got to be able to read their mind. Proving intent, proving that they really meant it, that they had the means to carry it out, it’s very difficult”.
Edwina Currie, former Conservative MP, who had experienced online abuse herself believes people should be able to control themselves when posting comments online. She declared: “Most people know the difference between saying something nice and saying something nasty, saying something to support, which is wonderful when you get that on Twitter, and saying something to wound which is very cruel and very offensive. […] Most people know the difference – I don’t think education is the issue. I think making sure society takes a dim view of the latter is exactly the right thing to do.” Stella Creasy, labour MP believes police officers and prosecutors need advanced training in order to be able to deal with online abuse cases properly.
Under the new law, any person who subjects someone else to sexual abuse, verbal abuse or any threat-related material online could be prosecuted and sentenced to maximum two years in prison. The more serious online abuse cases could end up at the crown court and the maximum sentence could be extended. The new change is made as an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. Grayling also declared that there will be an amendment regarding the “revenge porn” issue. People posting such images online could also face two years in prison. The problem of online abuse has gone out of hand in recent years, after social media platforms became popular.