Is the law really a deterrent for cyber-bullies?

The existence of social media is ever present in the lives of youths. An impressive 1.4 billion people are Facebook users and 98% of the World’s 18-24 age bracket are already social media members.[1] The intentions of such websites are good: the ability to communicate instantly across the globe, apply for jobs, and stay in touch with family members whom may have once been long forgotten. But beneath the positive social aspect of this relatively new phenomena lies a generation at a much greater risk of harassment. In early February 2015, I became a witness to a Facebook “prank” which quickly became viral. It’s spiralling effect played havoc on lives, including my own. A 22-year-old male approached young mum Chantelle, and as a joke, recorded their conversation. The male attempted to discuss and ridicule intimate details of Chantelle’s life, such as her address, relationship, children and personal circumstances. The video was then posted on Facebook and the effect was astounding – in 5 hours over 12,000 users Worldwide had seen it. Within 24 hours she was kicked out of her home, her relationship ended and Chantelle was officially reported to the Police as a missing person. As a law student and somebody who is genuinely concerned for the welfare of vulnerable individuals, I expressed my distaste for the video and for those that revelled in its “humour”. Now the focus of ridicule was on myself and I received a barrage of public abuse from people I called friends, peers, and even some strangers. Nasty comments were made about my appearance, career choice, and children. My social media profiles were attacked, reported and personal photos shared. As quickly as it begun, it stopped and thankfully I could “get back to normal” but things were very, very different for Chantelle. The video, the crude comments and the evidence where her personal details such as her address were reported to Facebook. None of the above was removed, as the harassment ‘did not violate community standards’. I began to question what was classed as harassment and illegal in terms of online bullying. Was this just an expression of free speech, or had the male in question (and all those that collaborated with him) committed an offence? Unfortunately, the law regarding cyber-space isn’t clear-cut. According to the Ditch The Label Survey, 7 out of 10 young people have been victim of cyber bullying (5 million in the UK). 54% of those are bullied via Facebook or other social media sites.[2] It has been argued that cyber-bullying has similar consequences as traditional bullying, with added implications for the victim; such as the inclusion of a wider audience, anonymity, and the invasion of “safe spaces”.[3] “Bullies” can now choose when, where and how they target victims. Victimization can take place anywhere and at any time,[4] with the likelihood that the perpetrator will not be punished. Looking retrospectively at the incident with Chantelle and I, it seems wrong that Facebook would take such an ignorant approach to harassment. Facebook officials reassure the media that dedicated members of staff man their online reporting system and each complaint is reviewed individually.[5] The main question rising from this declaration is, does this mean that cyber-bullying or harassment is subjective? What gives that particular member of staff the right to decide whether or not an individual is being affected? In fact, does that member of staff sit, guffawing at his computer screen, thus becoming part of the bullying culture? It is clear that in order to find justice, one must look beyond the source of the bullying and to the law. The unfortunate reality is that there is not one singular law that governs cyber-bulling. One must be able to prove that an offence has occurred under any of the following statutes: the Protection from Harassment Act 1997[6] – where harassment is defined as ‘continued and unwanted actions’ against a person; Malicious Communications Act 1988[7] – where it is an offence to ‘send a letter or electronic communication conveying a threat or be of an offensive nature; and the Communications Act 2003[8] which encompasses both of the above legislation. Each of these laws provides that anyone guilty of such an offence may receive up to 6 months imprisonment. The first person in Britain to be jailed for cyber-bullying under these Acts of Parliament was 18-year-old Keeley Houghton in 2009, who admitted harassing and making threats to a peer.[9] It has been argued that the current legislation was not drafted with the Internet in mind, and doesn’t sufficiently protect from such an activity,[10] and that: ‘it is not going to affect someone posting an offensive message on sites such as Facebook … will not deter those set on posting abusive and offensive messages. In addition to this, there are evidential difficulties in proving the offence: although it may be possible to trace the computer involved in the incident, the problem of locating the perpetrator remains as the computer used may be in a public library or Internet cafe. The traced computer may even be in another country, causing jurisdictional issues.’[11] Academics have argued that the lack of one singular, sufficient statute leads to confusion as to what is the appropriate response to an act of cyber-bullying, and indeed which Act or law has been broken. In fact, it is possible that a bench of Magistrates may be under confusion as to which definition of harassment applies.[12] If legal professionals cannot decide as to which law applies in the instance of cyber-bullying, then how are the general pubic meant to know when they have broken one? It is my own opinion that because the younger generation is not aware of any law(s) that they have potentially broken when having a “joke”, the law cannot be a deterrent. In contrast, if the victim is also not aware of such laws, many an incident will go undetected and unreported; leaving the most vulnerable to victims to fend for themselves. Reflecting on the incident with Chantelle, I now know that she may have had a case to take to court. The system is flawed in the sense that the most vulnerable targets – passive victims who already have low self esteem and problematic social skills are the least likely candidates to pursue a conviction. The lack of knowledge (or ignorance!) regarding the law intensifies the effect of online bullying. The victim, who already feels like they have no escape, cannot possibly know what crime has ben committed unless we have one, specific law dedicated to social media and cyber-bullying. Advances in technology mean that most of us now spend the majority of our time online, opening up avenues for potential harassment and abuse. Peers who are “having a laugh” affect the lives of young people on a daily basis. Social media moguls seem to wash their hands of any accountability, and it is down to the victim to actively do something about it. I recovered easily from my spate of abuse, Chantelle may be not so.

[1] Statistic Britain, http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/ accessed 20/03/2015

[2] Ditch the Label, “Annual Cyberbullying Survey 2013’ http://www.ditchthelabel.org/downloads/the-annual-cyberbullying-survey-2013.pdf accessed 01/03/2015

[3] Campbell et al, ‘A school’s duty to provide a safe learning environment: Does this include cyber bullying?’ Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, 13 (2) (2008)

[4] Hutcherson, Audrey, Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions: Psychology of Victimization, (New York, NY, USA: Nova Science Publishers Inc 2012)

[5] C Green, ‘What happens when you report abuse?’ The Independent (13th February 2015) http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/what-happens-when-you-report-abuse-the-secretive-facebook-censors-who-decide-what-is--and-what-isnt-abuse-10045437.html accessed 14/02/2015

[6] Protection from Harassment Act 1997 s1.

[7] Malicious Communications Act 1988 s1.

[8] Communications Act 2003 s127.

[9] H Carter, ‘Teenage girl is first to be jailed for bullying on Facebook’ The Guardian (21st August 2009) http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/aug/21/facebook-bullying-sentence-teenage-girl accessed 02/03/2015

[10] N Geech, N Haralambous, ‘Regulating harassment: is the law fit for the social networking age?’ (2009) CLJ 241

[11] ibid

[12] N Haralambous, Neal Geech, ‘Online Harassment and Public Dis-order’ (2010) 174 JPN 409 Author: Linzi Idle, April 2015

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