Doxers, trolls, abusive hashtag creators, and more could now face prosecution in the UK

midian182

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The UK is clamping down on Internet trolls and their toxic online behavior. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published guidelines that could result in severe punishments for offensive hashtags, doxing, revenge porn, and other similar activities.

“Virtual mobbing,” where someone incites people to harass others online, could now see the perpetrator charged under the Serious Crime Act. Breitbart’s tech editor, Milo Yiannopoulos, was permanently banned from Twitter in July for allegedly inciting his followers to abuse Ghostbuster’s actress Leslie Jones.

Anyone who engages in Doxing - the act of publicly posting a person’s information, such as their bank details and home address – will also face tougher penalties. As will those who create “derogatory” hashtags as a way of humiliating people.

The guidelines also target anyone who sets up websites or fake social media accounts in someone else’s name with the intention of demeaning people.

Misogynistic hate crimes, such as publicly labeling woman and girls as sexually promiscuous or doctoring photos as a way of humiliating them, could result in prosecution for the offender.

Revenge Porn, which involves someone posting explicit images of former partners to embarrass them, is also mentioned. It has been illegal in the UK since April 2015, and now “anyone who re-tweets or forwards without consent, a private sexual photograph or film, if the purpose […] was to cause distress to the individual depicted,” can be charged under the same offense.

"The internet's not an anonymous place where people can post without any consequences," said Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions at the CPS. "People should think about their own conduct."

"If you are grossly abusive to people, if you are bullying or harassing people online, then we will prosecute in the same way as if you did it offline," she added.

The BBC reports that the CPS will only pursue those who create “grossly offensive” posts and that prosecutors won’t be able to “stifle free speech.” The guidelines are subject to public consultation for 13 weeks.

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WOW .... trolls! I haven't seen them since my older sisters were in high school back in the late 50's ...... I'm going to have to nominate my pet rock for a photo on here .... he only got the first 5 sec of his 15 minutes of fame! :)
 
It's funny to see how much the internet has change since the rest of the world decided to join us.
 
Who is us?
People who browsed the web before smart phones\ tablets. Before it went from being considered anti social to a social network.

I have no opinion on trolling, all I know is 15+ years ago, it was considered part of the internet. Anyone who said lets prosecute trolls would have been thought of as the town *****.
 
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Welp, sorry guys, I can only troll you in time zones between EST and WST. Sorry for the inconvenience
 
The BBC reports that the CPS will only pursue those who create “grossly offensive” posts and that prosecutors won’t be able to “stifle free speech.”

This is an outright lie. Per the author of this article:

"Misogynistic hate crimes, such as publicly labeling woman and girls as sexually promiscuous or doctoring photos as a way of humiliating them, could result in prosecution for the offender."

So if you call a girl a **** on social media for being promiscuous, you are have committed a "misogynistic hate crime."

By definition, this is restricting freedom of speech.

This is what happens when you allow spineless twerps and white knights into positions of power. Welcome to 1984.
 
It starts with trolls, it ends with everyone being in line "or else". What "offends" one person, another person will think it is funny. It's just another form of political correctness run amok.

How to end freedom of speech without officially outlawing freedom of speech:

1. Add criminal liability to communication.

Edit: Actually, this article has a passage that demonstrates the strategy.

Revenge Porn, which involves someone posting explicit images of former partners to embarrass them, is also mentioned. It has been illegal in the UK since April 2015, and now “anyone who re-tweets or forwards without consent, a private sexual photograph or film, if the purpose […] was to cause distress to the individual depicted,” can be charged under the same offense.

The first step is to take a seemingly well-intentioned premise and attach so much risk to it no reasonable person would dare speak of it, for fear of liability.

In this example, we have "revenge porn," which is universally agreed upon to be wrong. This simple agreement is then rolled into the next seemingly well-intentioned premise that bullying and abuse are wrong. Revenge porn is used to bully and abuse. Logically, someone who see's someone else bullying and decides to jump in on the action must be an accessory. So it only makes sense that spreading that content makes you an accessory, right?

Except for one problem: unless said content is explicitly labeled "revenge porn," how do you know you're spreading it unless you know who published it and why?

Well, you don't. So every time you see an amateur porn clip or photo on the web you might want to share, you have to assess whether its legal, which will be next to impossible to do if you don't contact the original source, which will also be next to impossible.

So you don't re-tweet, you don't forward, and the content never spreads because the liability is too great.

Some people won't have a problem with this in the above example because "porn is bad and stopping its spread will be better for everyone."

Except the well-intentioned premise of revenge porn being wrong is simply the gift to the Trojans. Inside is the real surprise: hate speech and abuse, two very ill-defined and subjective terms that encompass any and all criticism of select groups.

Do you believe in traditional marriage? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe Muslims are responsible for terrorism in the West? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe men and women aren't equals? Per this very article, that's misogynistic hate.

Are you against mass immigration? Well, sorry to tell you bud, but that's hateful and abusive to immigrants who are trying to find a better life for their families.

And if you talk about any of these things, make a hashtag, ridicule someone's related opinion, or share content doing these things, you now have criminal liability as a member of a hate mob. And where you have criminal liability, you have an extreme reluctance to speak about or share any such position.

Censorship by liability.
 
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The BBC reports that the CPS will only pursue those who create “grossly offensive” posts and that prosecutors won’t be able to “stifle free speech.”

This is an outright lie. Per the author of this article:

"Misogynistic hate crimes, such as publicly labeling woman and girls as sexually promiscuous or doctoring photos as a way of humiliating them, could result in prosecution for the offender."

So if you call a girl a **** on social media for being promiscuous, you are have committed a "misogynistic hate crime."

By definition, this is restricting freedom of speech.

This is what happens when you allow spineless twerps and white knights into positions of power. Welcome to 1984.

Strange when I went to reply to your comment to ask you why you had used **** instead of a word, the actual word you wanted to write appeared in the quote. So did you censor yourself or the moderators??
 
Strange when I went to reply to your comment to ask you why you had used **** instead of a word, the actual word you wanted to write appeared in the quote. So did you censor yourself or the moderators??

Techspot has a funky word filter. $lut will appear in forum mode, not from the ordinary page. Quote something, and it'll put the full text in the editor sometimes.

Since it's such a b!tch, I just ignore it.
 
Classic Liberal Euro/Brit mentality. Have to control everyone. While this is a great idea in theory (making jerks stop being jerky), in reality it's fairly chilling and continues the slow but inevitable slide towards full government control (ala Big Brother) that we've seen the UK head inexorably towards for the past many years. Glad I don't have to live there, that's for sure. Yikes!
 
Strange when I went to reply to your comment to ask you why you had used **** instead of a word, the actual word you wanted to write appeared in the quote. So did you censor yourself or the moderators??

Techspot has a funky word filter. $lut will appear in forum mode, not from the ordinary page. Quote something, and it'll put the full text in the editor sometimes.

Since it's such a b!tch, I just ignore it.

ahh, not Always a b!tch, just Arbitrarily Crankee / Dominantly Crankee..
 
How to end freedom of speech without officially outlawing freedom of speech:

1. Add criminal liability to communication.

Edit: Actually, this article has a passage that demonstrates the strategy.

Revenge Porn, which involves someone posting explicit images of former partners to embarrass them, is also mentioned. It has been illegal in the UK since April 2015, and now “anyone who re-tweets or forwards without consent, a private sexual photograph or film, if the purpose […] was to cause distress to the individual depicted,” can be charged under the same offense.

The first step is to take a seemingly well-intentioned premise and attach so much risk to it no reasonable person would dare speak of it, for fear of liability.

In this example, we have "revenge porn," which is universally agreed upon to be wrong. This simple agreement is then rolled into the next seemingly well-intentioned premise that bullying and abuse are wrong. Revenge porn is used to bully and abuse. Logically, someone who see's someone else bullying and decides to jump in on the action must be an accessory. So it only makes sense that spreading that content makes you an accessory, right?

Except for one problem: unless said content is explicitly labeled "revenge porn," how do you know you're spreading it unless you know who published it and why?

Well, you don't. So every time you see an amateur porn clip or photo on the web you might want to share, you have to assess whether its legal, which will be next to impossible to do if you don't contact the original source, which will also be next to impossible.

So you don't re-tweet, you don't forward, and the content never spreads because the liability is too great.

Some people won't have a problem with this in the above example because "porn is bad and stopping its spread will be better for everyone."

Except the well-intentioned premise of revenge porn being wrong is simply the gift to the Trojans. Inside is the real surprise: hate speech and abuse, two very ill-defined and subjective terms that encompass any and all criticism of select groups.

Do you believe in traditional marriage? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe Muslims are responsible for terrorism in the West? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe men and women aren't equals? Per this very article, that's misogynistic hate.

Are you against mass immigration? Well, sorry to tell you bud, but that's hateful and abusive to immigrants who are trying to find a better life for their families.

And if you talk about any of these things, make a hashtag, ridicule someone's related opinion, or share content doing these things, you now have criminal liability as a member of a hate mob. And where you have criminal liability, you have an extreme reluctance to speak about or share any such position.

Censorship by liability.
You have a problem sharing a lot of porn do you? Why do you even want to share porn in the first place, get a life.
 
#Prince-yRaz: Then get some of your minions to do it for you, you lazy hump.
Unfortunately, many died of Ebola so I've been quite short handed. I've actually had to order my own take out and even answer the door occasionally! And let me tell you, it can be a very long walk. Sometimes my food is cold by the time I get to my dining area. Do you know how frustrating it is to have to heat up your own food? How do people live like this?

And after the Ebola outbreak, the price of slaves has sky rocketed! I've had to import them from surrounding countries. Even then, after shipping costs it's just barely lower than sourcing them in house. At least my investment in Rino horn is helping to ease some of the costs.

Maybe I should send some of my wives to the fields, but then I'll have to give them more food and they barely earn what they get already.
 
How to end freedom of speech without officially outlawing freedom of speech:

1. Add criminal liability to communication.

Edit: Actually, this article has a passage that demonstrates the strategy.

Revenge Porn, which involves someone posting explicit images of former partners to embarrass them, is also mentioned. It has been illegal in the UK since April 2015, and now “anyone who re-tweets or forwards without consent, a private sexual photograph or film, if the purpose […] was to cause distress to the individual depicted,” can be charged under the same offense.

The first step is to take a seemingly well-intentioned premise and attach so much risk to it no reasonable person would dare speak of it, for fear of liability.

In this example, we have "revenge porn," which is universally agreed upon to be wrong. This simple agreement is then rolled into the next seemingly well-intentioned premise that bullying and abuse are wrong. Revenge porn is used to bully and abuse. Logically, someone who see's someone else bullying and decides to jump in on the action must be an accessory. So it only makes sense that spreading that content makes you an accessory, right?

Except for one problem: unless said content is explicitly labeled "revenge porn," how do you know you're spreading it unless you know who published it and why?

Well, you don't. So every time you see an amateur porn clip or photo on the web you might want to share, you have to assess whether its legal, which will be next to impossible to do if you don't contact the original source, which will also be next to impossible.

So you don't re-tweet, you don't forward, and the content never spreads because the liability is too great.

Some people won't have a problem with this in the above example because "porn is bad and stopping its spread will be better for everyone."

Except the well-intentioned premise of revenge porn being wrong is simply the gift to the Trojans. Inside is the real surprise: hate speech and abuse, two very ill-defined and subjective terms that encompass any and all criticism of select groups.

Do you believe in traditional marriage? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe Muslims are responsible for terrorism in the West? Well, that's hate speech.

Do you believe men and women aren't equals? Per this very article, that's misogynistic hate.

Are you against mass immigration? Well, sorry to tell you bud, but that's hateful and abusive to immigrants who are trying to find a better life for their families.

And if you talk about any of these things, make a hashtag, ridicule someone's related opinion, or share content doing these things, you now have criminal liability as a member of a hate mob. And where you have criminal liability, you have an extreme reluctance to speak about or share any such position.

Censorship by liability.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-316-18141-9

https://www.amazon.com/Shouting-Fire-Civil-Liberties-Turbulent/dp/0316181412

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