14 DAY TRIAL // Since the Internet allows people to hide behind a computer to spew vile things just because they can’t be seen, there are plenty of bullies posing as trolls. The UK has decided that it has had enough of this and has hiked up the punishment for such activities.
The Daily Mail reports that Internet trolls who subject victims to abuse will be jailed for up to two years. The decision comes after a series of high-profile cases where people have received serious threats over the Internet.
Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary, revealed that the maximum six-month sentence that is currently in play for Internet abuse will be quadrupled. The legislation is being dubbed “Chloe’s Law” after Chloe Madeley, a model that was threatened with rape after her mother, Judy Finnigan, made some controversial remarks about football player and convicted rapist Ched Evans.
Madeley welcomed the chances and said that the worst comments she received amounted to “online terrorism,” which is why she took a stand and made the entire situation public.
It's no better online than in real life
“Those Internet trolls are cowards who are poisoning our national life. No one would permit such venom in person, so there should be no place for it on social media. That is why we are determined to quadruple the current six months sentence,” said Grayling.
He pointed out that the case of Chloe Madeley showed that people are being abused online in the “most crude and degrading fashion.” Grayling added that this is a law seeking to combat cruelty and it is a way through which the British authorities are sending a clear message to such individuals.
The law that the government is now updating is about ten years old, which means that it is older than social media outlets that are incredibly popular nowadays, such as Facebook and Twitter. This is an important element since the two sites have been increasingly used for such purposes, although they are in no way the only sites where such behavior takes place.
In the past few years there’s been an increase in online bullying, but also in anti-bullying campaigns, not only in the United States, but also in other nations around the world. There have been one too many cases that have led to teenagers hurting themselves due to online bullying, including several that have committed suicide. This is a serious issue where people need to understand that just because they’re making threats and being hateful on the Internet, it does not make it any better than if they had been doing it in person.