Stella Creasy
- Following the successful campaign to have Jane Austen on the £10 bank note she received a backlash on twitter.
- The troll sent Creasy "I'm gonna be the first thing u see when u wake up". Plus an image of him wearing a mask and holding a knife.
- She wrote in an article "Twitter tell me we should simply block those who "offend us", as though a rape threat is a matter of bad manners, not criminal behaviour".
Mary Beard
- received messages stating that a troll had put a bomb outside her house that is going to "destroy everything".
- reported threats of "rape and worse".
These threats, although they have been emotionally harmful have not physically hurt these victims. This raises of the question of when it is too far and when does it become beyond a joke?
Caroline Flack
- fan of One Direction sent a picture of her holding a knife.
Gary Lineker
- Mark Sinnott (21) cyber bullied his son for having leukemia.
Gary Barlow - received abuse about his daughter who was delivered a stillborn.
Colin Cass - jailed for 18 weeks for making Facebook groups mocking Jade Goody and other dead celebrities.
Should trolls be charged with harassment?
Does this affect the free speech that we have on the internet?
They have given up their privacy to be famous so should they expect to be threatened online?
Is this the price they should pay for boosting their profile and becoming more accessible?
Communications Act of 2003 governs the internet, email, mobile phone calls and text messaging. Under section 127 of the act it is an offence to send messages that are grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.
I think it's wrong how much of a fuss celebrities make about being abused online! The chose to become famous and live in the public eye! They create this twitter accounts to interact with the general public! Personally i feel like they should just deal with the consequences this brings and should simply ignore the messages and move on! Frankly i find it disgusting how much more publicity there is about celebrities being 'trolled' online compared to young girls who commit suicide from it! Young girls have no where to turn, they feel threatened and vulnerable! Whereas celebrities have lots of people around them, looking after them, they are protected and know that nothing will happen to them! To be fair i think many celebrities just make such a big deal out of one abusive message to boost their profile! If they hate receiving these message so much then they should just DELETE THEIR ACCOUNT! There are bigger problems in the world to deal with, they should just ignore any hate they receive and move on! WORST THINGS COULD HAPPEN!
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with who you've just said! I understand that celebrities chose to be famous and have to deal with their lives being broadcast across the world but i don't think that means they should just ignore any abusive messages they receive! They are human too and have a right to be upset if they are abused online! They are also vulnerable too and can feel threatened by these online trolls. I think the Gary Barlow and Gary Lineker stories are very upsetting as they were concerned with personal family issues and it's wrong and quite frankly disgusting that people feel like they can post abusive messages about such a sensitive topic! I think people who abuse celebs online should be punished!
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