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Author Topic: Man jailed for trolling  (Read 18619 times)

Akroma

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Man jailed for trolling
« on: September 13, 2011, 03:10:02 pm »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036935/Sean-Duffy-Internet-troll-taunted-teenager-deaths-jailed-18-WEEKS.html


so, what law did he break again ?


since when can you send someone to jail for 3 months, and moreover 5-year-ban someone from any and all social networks (even youtube) for, to explain it simply "being mean" ?


or how the court puts it "sending malicious communications"
this sets a worrying precedent. people sent to jail and having their freedom severly restricted because of almost nothing.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2011, 03:16:40 pm by Akroma »
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Draxis

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2011, 03:14:11 pm »

Clearly, this was cyberbullying, the greatest threat to our society since the last media buzzword.
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Bauglir

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2011, 03:33:09 pm »

On the plus side, precedent for the WBC if they ever visit the UK?
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GlyphGryph

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2011, 03:37:21 pm »

Also, its from the daily mail. Unless I get another source, I'm assuming its made up.

Based on their track record, which is pretty consistently "Oh by the way we made this up."
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shadenight123

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2011, 03:41:06 pm »

trolls beware, you can now go to jail for trolling. your leetspik won't help you know.
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Leafsnail

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2011, 03:46:06 pm »

Mocking young people who have died in murders, accidents and suicides is pretty disgusting.

I guess it is somewhat comparable to the WBC's practise of picketing funerals.  Heckling mourners isn't constitutionally protected speech here.
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GlyphGryph

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2011, 03:46:40 pm »

Okay, seems the gist of the daily mail story was correct (though they made up a few details, it looks like).

As I suspected, he was brought up under charges of harassment. Here's the relevant UK laws, for those interested, from 1988:
http://www.neiladdison.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/law/malcomm.htm

This seems a fairly natural extension of existing harassment laws, to be honest. Repeated attempts to hurt the family for no other reason than to cause damage to said persons.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2011, 03:49:00 pm by GlyphGryph »
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scriver

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2011, 03:47:37 pm »

Harassment is harassment, regardless of place. He should've gotten the same punishment as if he would've done it outside of the Internet. Regardless, prison sounds ridiculously harsh, and I can't believe that would've been the sentence of offline harassment. But then again, I'm not familiar with the legal traditions.

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GlyphGryph

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #9 on: September 13, 2011, 03:51:28 pm »

Offline harassment does and has led to prison time, at least in the US and I assume in the UK as well. Obviously it depends on the nature of the harassment.

18 weeks does seem a bit harsh, but he will only likely serve a portion. I also can't find any details of the case, so I'm not sure if other factors were included in the Judge's decision.
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mainiac

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #10 on: September 13, 2011, 03:53:42 pm »

Probably sounds like a bit of a disproportionate sentence but that's just typical -punishment-happy judges at work.  Cyber harassment is and should be illegal.
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Phmcw

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2011, 03:59:10 pm »

Meh, picking at a remembrance page set up by a family of a murdered teen is a bit more than trolling. Just like harassing a funeral, and particularly for purely malicious purpose, it should be sanctioned. Firm prison seems harsh though.

« Last Edit: September 13, 2011, 04:05:30 pm by Phmcw »
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Bohandas

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #12 on: September 13, 2011, 04:06:21 pm »

This is a British article. Aren't British slander and libel laws and things like that ultra-draconian? I know that I've heard that somewhere.
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Bohandas

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #13 on: September 13, 2011, 04:12:17 pm »

Harassment is harassment, regardless of place. He should've gotten the same punishment as if he would've done it outside of the Internet.

People shouldn't be punished for saying hurtful things offline either. People need to stop being so fucking sensitive. Haters gonna hate whether people like it or not.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2011, 04:15:47 pm by Bohandas »
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Leafsnail

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Re: Man jailed for trolling
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2011, 04:17:04 pm »

Actually if he did it offline it would have been extremely threatening behaviour (possibly amounting to stalking).  I'd certainly feel very uncomfortable if a strange man turned up and started mocking my daughter (in an extended campaign of harrassment, even) who had recently suffered a fatal accident or commited suicide.

This is a British article. Aren't British slander and libel laws and things like that ultra-draconian? I know that I've heard that somewhere.
It's true that the libel laws have ended up ridiculously tight (mostly because the law is effectively being made up by judges since politicians haven't legislated much on it yet) but that's irrelevant since this case has nothing to do with libel or slander (both of which imply intentionally writing false information to damage someone's reputation).

People shouldn't be punished for saying hurtful things offline either. People need to stop being so fucking sensitive. Haters gonna hate whether people like it or not.
People shouldn't be punished for murder, murderers gonna murder whether people like it or not etc.
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