Yesterday I gave an interview to BBC Scotland where I explained why the government must take a tougher approach and prosecute people who commit harassment on social media.
This was after reports by NHS nurses of the spill of the harassment against them to offline, with nurses being abused on the street.
The advice given by police to victims of harassment on the internet is to ignore their harassers or, in other words, develop a thicker skin. The reality is that nearly always, harassers tend to escalate their behaviour if they are ignored by their victim, and they rarely just go away.
If we focus on the victim, the conclusion must be that online harassment must be treated by the police exactly the same as offline harassment because the impact on the victim is often stronger when they are abused on the internet.
Free speech is only permitted subject to what is permitted by law, and if the law prohibits harassment, then freedom of speech must give place accordingly.
Police advice to victims of trolling and its consequences
Currently, the advice often given by police to victims of online harassment is to ignore their harassers or “develop a thicker skin.” However, this approach rarely addresses the issue. In reality, ignoring harassment tends to escalate the situation rather than resolve it. Harassers seldom stop when they are ignored; instead, they interpret the lack of response as permission to continue or intensify their behaviour.
The impact of internet trolling on the victim
When focusing on the victims of harassment, it is clear that the police need to treat online harassment with the same seriousness as they do offline abuse. The impact of online abuse is often even more profound because it invades personal spaces like the home, making it harder for victims to escape. For many, this constant exposure amplifies the psychological toll, leaving them feeling trapped and vulnerable.
While free speech is an important right, it is not unlimited. In the UK, free expression must operate within the framework of the law, which prohibits harassment. When speech crosses the line into harassment, the right to free speech must yield to the need to protect individuals from harm. The law must apply equally to online and offline spaces to ensure victims are safeguarded and perpetrators are held accountable.
So why the police is so reluctant to prosecute online trolling?
The question, of course, is what is the right threshold to bring prosecution for harassment but the reality is that even when the threshold has clearly been crossed, the police still will be unlikely to investigate the crime and prosecute the harasser.
Why? Because of something which is called “public policy” and which was developed by the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, and which places free speech ahead of freedom from trolling and harassment. I will be writing about this in detail later on.