A New Bill That Would Unmask Internet Trolls

Bullying has moved from beyond the playground and into the world of technology.  Where victims of bullying used to be able to run to be safe, their home is now a place where bullying may follow them in the online world.  

Cyberbullying is a rising problem today and tackling the problem is going to take a lot of work.  With Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media sites, technology has opened a new window of bullying for tormentors.  

Cyberbullies, also known as Internet trolls, are now at risk for being revealed by the government.  The government is currently trying to pass a bill that will allow victims of anonymous online abuse to identify their Internet attackers that post hateful and threatening messages.  

This suggested Defamation Bill will allow victims of cyberbullies the right to learn the identity of their bully and end the abuse that they have endured.  It allows them to do this without having to take legal action to the High Court, but rather they will be able to take action in a quicker and cheaper manner.  The victim will have to show the actual or possible damage to their reputation before any defamation case will be seen.  

According to Theupcoming.co.uk, the government is also calling for more details about individual Internet users and their online activities to be stored.  Some people are wondering if this is violating people’s rights to privacy? The government replies to this argument by embracing actions that are designed to stop false claims that end in the unjustified removal of comments.  

Also, “a single-publication rule would be introduced to protect websites, imposing a one-year limit on posted material. Under this, only the original post would be counted as ‘published’ even if subsequently reposted and would only be open to prosecution for twelve months,” according to Theupcoming.co.uk.  Right now, material on websites is looked at as being republished every time it is downloaded, placing responsibility on the operator of the archive.  If this new bill passes, cooperating websites would not be punished for their role in cyberbullying.  

Justice Secretary Ken Clark emphasized this. “Most operators are not in a position to know whether the material posted is defamatory or not and very often – faced with a complaint – they will immediately remove material,” he said. “Our proposed approach will mean that website operators have a defense against libel as long as they identify the authors of allegedly defamatory material when requested to do so by a complainant.”

Source: http://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2012/06/12/new-bill-to-unmask-online-bullies/