UK internet trolls could soon face serious jail time

In the aftermath of online threats of rape and other serious threats leveled at model Chloe Madeley, the UK Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has put forth changes to the Malicious Communications Act, and these changes are due to be debated in the House of Lords sometime this week. Currently in the UK, offences involving abuse and threatening behavior online can net an individual up to a 6 month sentence. The proposed changes would quadruple a guilty sentence to a maximum of 24 months.

Grayling appears to be taking a very hard line, indicating, “No one would permit such venom in person, so there should be no place for it on social media. This is a law to combat cruelty - and marks our determination to take a stand against a baying cyber-mob. We must send out a clear message: if you troll you risk being behind bars for two years.”

This, too, comes on the heels of additional threats of violence leveled at Anita Sarkeesian just last week, who’s Tropes vs. Women video series has garnered her recent attention from, as Grayling put it, the “baying cyber-mob,” as well as the rising “movement” known as GamerGate. The idea behind the reformist movement called for transparency in the games journalism industry, waving around accusations of ethical corruption and bias within the gaming press. At the same time, some of GamerGate’s most vocal proponents have been those that have been leveling threats of violence and misogynist abuse at both women and men involved in the industry.

Dale recently wrote about our thoughts on GamerGate and what we plan to do about it: you should check it out here.

With social media having become such an integral part of both business and personal life, it’s encouraging to see that those involved in creating the laws that are there to dissuade and punish the offender are taking online abuse seriously. What used to be only an angry voice on a message board that people didn’t pay attention to has now swelled into a dangerous entity, threatening physical violence, mental abuse, sexual violation, and even murder. In a world where there is a lot about a person online, it’s easy to be scared if those threats are then directed at you, and is no different than a stranger walking up and waving a gun in your face.

The United States currently has an Anti-Cyber Stalking Law, and a group at Anti-Troll.org is attempting to add trolling and cyber-bullying to the existing Federal legislation sentencing: up to 2 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine for each violation. Perhaps if we see Grayling raise a banner of success, other countries will follow suit and create new laws that tackle the unsettling rise of online threats and abuse to all people, not just those involved in the gaming industry.

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Jenna Fraser

A New England born, Boston native, Jenna says "wicked" with reckless abandon. She loves video games almost as much as she loves words and to say that she has an obsession with Queen would be the biggest understatement of all time.