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
“But, the facelessness of the internet is what makes it so dangerous. 80% of all communication is nonverbal.”
I believe it would be extremely worthwhile to make “Debate” a requirement for high school and college graduation. It may need to begin in middle school.
having been on this blog for x amount of years first just reading and then slowly commenting i’ve seen the bullying that went on. right here it was harsh, belittling, and inhumane. it also caused some of the nicest commenters/ weekend bloggers to finally throw up their keyboards and leave and yet the one who did the bullying is still here and still pulling the same stunts its a wonderment to me how the bullies tend to view themselves as keepers of the flame when they have no idea of what the flame is truly about. this woman obviously had mental issues and when caught out couldnt handle it yet she expected the mc canns to handle her bullying. when asked why she did it her reply was and i quote ” because i can” the funny part is she couldnt handle the world finding out she was a bully. no i feel no sympathy for her or others like her. and like those other bullies will see their karma come for them .
David, When I think of how the internet has EXPLODED in just the past decade it boggles my mind. From our kids, having their heads buried into their iPhones, making nasty posts w/o any human contact. Not seeing the hurt that a comment can cause. I’m afraid you’re correct about religion not being relevant on this subject to date, but I’m more hopeful the religious values in many of us plays to our kinder nature. But, the facelessness of the internet is what makes it so dangerous. 80% of all communication is nonverbal.
We need to develop a system of morals for the technology age. I’m not talking about laws, but voluntary acknowledgement of the proper use and improper use of the technology gadgets we now use. Normally religion would fulfill this role in society, but I doubt any religion will step up to the plate to work on this.
Because I saw through Obama from the beginning, I experienced bullying on this blog. It was and still is hateful. It was and often is done by packs of posters. I was told to shut up and leave this blog. This last statement was made by a person whom I had formerly considered a political ally.
The effect of this bullying was to silence me. The irony of silencing people for pointing out uncomfortable truths on a blog dedicated to free speech was weird, sad, and in the end, I feel destructive to both the bullies and me. It kept people from hearing a disparate, informed, factual analysis that was desperately needed. Most criticism that Democrats hear about Obama is from the right. This is by design. It is easily dismissed and bonds Democrats together in thinking how much better they are than those stupid people on the right. People are divided, USGinc.’s mission accomplished!
I believe the govt. leads the charge in bullying/silencing left wing critics. It does so with its myriad propaganda(ists). USGinc. charges up ordinary Democrats into the two minutes of hate mode for those of us who criticize from the left. This has been an effective strategy of both silencing dissent and keeping real information from reaching people.
This is why I try to point out how pervasive propaganda is and how it is being brought to bear on both the left and the right.
Jill – I have had people come on here whose sole purpose was to get me banned. They stalked through every thread I was on trying to get a rise from me and in the early days they were successful. Those people are either gone or have changed their nom de plume. So, you have not been the Lone Ranger.
Pogo, LOL!!!!!! You are a great addition here.
I read an interesting article on how the law really needs to develop in a different direction to handle certain situations. The author talked about the need for restorative justice.
As others already pointed out, there are fine lines here and there are dangerous lines here. The powerful can and will use the law as a weapon to stop criticism and protest. We have seen this around the world, to include the US.
Here is a case where restorative justice might have been useful. It may have been helpful for this woman to sit across from the parents, in the presence of a well trained mediator, and hear directly from them what her behavior was doing to them. Because she was anonymous for quite some time, I’m not sure what the mechanism of restorative justice would be. Perhaps the parents could have posted an explanation of what this behavior meant to them. I don’t know. In my experience with bullying, no matter what you say to the bullies, they just keep going.
In my next post, I will explain how bullies on this blog made me feel.
They’re narcissists, Nick, so they’re certain you’re really writing about them.
I’m thinking of setting up an Ignoring Internet Troll online class. I’m afraid I’ll get too many trolls signing up and sabotaging.
Thank you Karen and Nick!
DBQ, that quote really works well in the context of this thread, 😉
I’ve seen a pattern of bullying in which there are certain commenters who chose their victim and then proceed to act as if they know them, or know about them somehow. The ‘information’ they ‘share’ about their victims is erroneous and usually a gross mischraracterization of the person. It’s mean spirited and incredibly toxic. Most people who have had this type occurrence happen to them have had to simply endure the abuse or commence legal action.
I’ve heard a similar quote. Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.
Robert Heinlein
Olly, Amen!
Olly – that’s the best quote ever.
The internet and anonymity really expose the flaws in one’s character. Unfortunately, humility is often the first to go and without that there is little chance of self-regulation. It’s tempting to engage trolls but to paraphrase Shaw; it’s a waste of time to wrestle with a pig, “you get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” I believe it’s far more effective to simply ignore them and any others that are not interested in a reasonable examination of alternative points of view.
Olly – I have to disagree. I think that wrestling with pigs can be fun. You are going to get dirty, but that is why God invented showers. 🙂
eKarma mixed with iJustice.
DBQ, As a prison guard, social worker and investigator, I have seen people making the same bad choices, the same mistakes over their entire lives. I learned that people seek out what is most comfortable to them. The most pathological I have encountered are those deeply hurt @ a young age. The pain form that childhood is familiar. We seek out what is familiar to us, even though it is painful. That’s why change is so difficult in us humans. It requires seeking the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable. I pray for folks stuck in the endless cycles of self destruction. I believe the Good Lord can gives us the strength to change. But, make no mistake, I am not speaking about the Hope and Change from our false messiah!!
I see no bullying on this thread.
Free speech and the freedom to speak. The importance of being able to speak negatively or positively about the government and to be able to express your thoughts without retaliation was seen by the Founding Fathers as integral to freedom. This is why it was the FIRST amendment.
But, in my mind, there is a fuzzy, not very well defined line between free speech and harmful speech. Obviously words meant to incite actual harm to another person, threats of physical harm, stalking and mental abuse are or should not be considered a freedom of speaking. The proverbial shouting fire in a theater which could cause harm to other is not considered free speech. But where to draw the line when the government could decide that speaking against something like gay marriage is NOT free.
Very fuzzy lines.
It appears there is a faction in England that believes the parents killed this girl and covered it up. That’s what the troll’s Twitter messages were about, blaming them.
It seems to me a stupid waste of time to devote oneself to an effort at online social opprobrium over a case you’ve got nothing to do with. Not so different than enmeshment with soap operas or sports teams, but far more harmful.
If she’s right about those parents, she’s still wrong to pursue Justice this way. Not unlike the Ferguson riots, which will only result in the Detroitization of that region.
So the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Karen, I’ve seen nasty bullying on this thread and others who just stand by and watch. That is very very shameful.