There is a sad story out of London that is a commentary on the mutating influence of anonymity on the Internet. Brenda Leyland killed herself after being confronted about her online abuse of the parents of the missing girl Madeleine McCann. Sky News tracked her down as the troll responsible for thousands of hate filled messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, whose three-year-old daughter went missing in Portugal in 2007.
What is interesting is that she faced a criminal investigation. We have previously discussed the worrisome trend in England in criminalizing different forms of speech. While Leyland (writing as @Sweepyface) was vicious, the 63-year-old was also engaged in what appears to be free speech. She is an online bully — something that we all have had to deal with on blogs as a constant reality. Some people find anonymity intoxicating — unleashing the most vile and hateful sides of personalities. It is truly chilling to think that some many people actively repress such impulses until they find a vehicle to attack others without accountability. However, I have serious concerns over the criminalization of speech.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has made clear that social media could be a criminal offence if they contain “credible threats of violence” or target an individual in a way that “may constitute harassment or stalking”. It is the harassment element that can be highly ambiguous. The prosecutors have said that “Grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false” messages can be a crime if a “public interest” case. That creates a huge chilling effect on a wide range of speech that some might see as offensive or untrue. As one of the greatest vehicles for free speech in the history of humanity, these prosecutions threaten to curtail a significant resource for free speech.
The article below cites a study by Canadian researchers that concluded that “Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun… and the Internet is their playground!”
The glee turned to a nightmare for Leyland when her true identity was revealed.
Source: Yahoo
I hope they find Madeleine alive one day. Can’t think of any worse hell her parents must be going through, not knowing.
Paul – that’s true. I’ve followed tragic stories here in the US where cyber bullying by teenage girls lead to the victim’s suicide.
That’s a good reason why I don’t think young teenagers should be on social media. Too many use it for evil instead of good, and young victims don’t have the experience to know that cyber bullying shames the perpetrator, not the victim.
I cringe when I think of thousands of vicious messages being sent to the parents of a kidnapped child. I imagine taking down their profile would not be an option, because you’d hope that one day a clue or a sighting could come in.
People with issues can just unravel on the internet. We’ve seen it here on this blog, where recently a poster created many aliases just to attack another poster. First they pretended to be the poster, then his wife, mocking him, claiming he made his wife cry. Having had a dangerous stalker myself, it gave me a gut reaction to watch, because you never know how far a stranger will take it, if they will be content with cyber bullying.
I wonder why the administrator of the sites in the above story didn’t simply block Sweepyface, or if that was not an option on the venue.
…describes it as a state…
Why wouldn’t politicians also claim you are bullying, stalking, or scaring them to prevent your opposition?
Britain is slowly killing off its freedoms on its road to serfdom.
Leszek Kolakowski’s essay “What is Socialism?” it as a state:
“in which a person who has not committed any crime sits at home waiting for the police, in which there are more spies than nurses and more people in prisons than in hospitals, in which one is forced to resort to lies…in which a person who does not think at all lives better — and which wants all citizens to have the same opinions in philosophy, economics, literature, and ethics, in which the philosopher and writers always say the same thing as the generals and ministers, but always after them, in which one must each day refute what one affirmed the day before and always believe it to be the same.”
Anti-troll laws are simply more binds on the average person. They my indeed prevent egregious behavior, but at the cost of prohibiting normal discourse and (especially) disagreement.
Battle of the bullies. Analyzing people of the world. Three groups. Who is their master?
1. The goats….I want things of the world and the all of it’s wealth. Led by something or someone.
2. The widows, widowers and orphans…. They don’t belong to anyone. In between worlds.
3. The sheep….Renters owning nothing and led by something or someone. Focusing on the things above.
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
A bully never changes his ways, until he is facing prosecution and perhaps commits suicide. It makes me wonder why some would see mean tricks as humorous? What is heartening though is that there are so many decent, kind, thoughtful, honest, insightful commenters online also. Those people make online interactions worth the risk of running into the type of troll described in this article. It’s always good to hear from others that have also been negatively affected by hate filled trolls. In conversations regarding online bullying and harassment with others, the consensus is that these folks must live very unfulfilled lives, were perhaps bullied as children and now haven’t developed into an emotional adult, forever stunted. Tragic really for all of those around them and even for strangers they run across online.
Annie – bullies come in both sexes. Some of the worst bullies I have seen are teen girls.
And, as we know, narcissists have virtually no self awareness. That’s what allows them to lie and sometimes not even know they are lying. I have dealt w/ so many narcissists and sociopaths and understand their pathology well. But, it still fascinates me every time I encounter one. I keep them out of my life as best I can. When they stalk you it is difficult, as these poor parents of a missing child have learned. This pitiful woman OBVIOUSLY had many issues, evidenced by her mean and compulsive comments and her stalking obsession. She had virtually no friends from what I’ve gathered. This stalking was her social life. and, when it was ended, she tragically saw no other outlet for her compulsion. It is a tragedy. A 63 year old divorcee, alone and lonely, reaching out in a dysfunctional way. I’m waiting for someone to do a post mortem on this woman. You KNOW she trolled other blogs, under numerous aliases, trying to find a connection w/ someone.
Bullying has been around for a long time. The Internet, schools, military, work place, and right in the family, brothers, sisters and in-laws.
Strategy from 2000 years ago. Know the enemy.
“Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come
from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person;
but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
There are no freedoms or rights for those that abuse them. This quasi religious overly simplistic approach to the right to this or the right to that simply because one was born in a country must be qualified with the right of society to demand a certain level of responsibility regarding the ownership of these rights.
If this 63 year old ‘troll’ had physically stalked, confronted, or in any other way in person made a nuisance of her self the laws of most countries would allow for a restraining order. Why is free speech exempt? That she committed suicide is a testament to her lack of mental stability. What she did was offensive and she should have been prosecuted for it under the basic law of society, you cannot go out of your way to inflict harm on another. Understandably the issue of harm is a matter of degrees but that is why we govern ourselves.
Turley, I often read your column where you expound the freedom of this and the freedom of that and this ‘watchdog’ approach is of great value in a society in order to protect these rights. However, extremes breed extremes and advocating rights without responsibilities strengthens the argument to limit rights not maintain them.
Hugh Beaumont, LOL! I love ball busters.
It is extremely troubling when there are individuals anonymous or otherwise who continuously bully, lie about or harass others online. It’s also troubling when they are given a free pass under free speech. I doubt if anyone wants to curtail other’s speech, but I think we would be well served to envision ourselves speaking to people online as we do in a in person. Online interactions don’t have to be a constant reflection of our baser emotions. There should be a contract that commenters on blogs and forums should have to sign. Something to the effect that you will respect others privacy and will not engage in personal smears to shut others speech down, or just because one is a dick. Perhaps it could apply to frequent commenters, not just occasional commenters. Free speech is so precious, yet it so often is abused online in interactions with others. This woman who bullied and harassed these grief stricken parents, may she never rest in peace.
Yes we have free speech but there is nothing said about the consequences of that free speech. Well she suffered the consequences of that use of free speech. As discography said above she suffered the consequences of that and there is one less hateful person on the internet today.
Back in the 80’s my apt. had a buzzer with a camera in the lobby that could be accessed on some neutral TV channel. People would walk into the lobby and start looking for an apt. #. While they were looking, you could press the buzzer to let them in before they actually found the number. So they’d walk away toward the door – then you’d stop buzzing. Then they’d go back to the board to start all over, and you’d buzz again. They’d walk again toward the door, and you’d stop buzzing. It could go back and forth forever. The point is, anonymity and a little power can be quite thrilling.
Pogo, Interesting analysis.
Clever trolls will make such laws work in their favor.
Psychopaths and narcissists are experts at twisting social conventions and legal rules into weapons.
Just like false child abuse claims are made in messy divorces, expect harassment and stalking claims against the harassed and stalked.
I have read much on this case. In conjunction w/ this woman’s suicide, a Canadian study has gotten publicity showing a high % of vicious trolls are psychopaths and narcissists. As I have said, in my profession I had sources who I knew, and sources who were anonymous. The former reliable, the ladder unreliable and most often w/ an agenda.
She left thousands and thousands of messages. I’m sure that constitutes harassment whether in the UK or US. She got made and couldn’t deal with the consequences, oh well. One less shitty person in the world and on the internet. Not going to get too worked up about a bully.
discography – I am not concerned about her, but I am concerned about the broadness of the law. It is overly broad.
“The glee turned to a nightmare for Leyland when her true identity was revealed.”
Trying my best to muster some sympathy for this trash. Just not happening…
This is from a country that hides the names of affluent defendants. Like the US, they make the rules that make them feel good. The law is clearly broad enough to cover politicians so there is nothing to see here, move along.