Trolls using fake profiles to harass others will now face criminal charges, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The CPS will be updating its social media guidelines to ensure that people posting "damaging or embarrassing" material or using fake accounts to harass others can be investigated and potentially prosecuted.
The CPS said the changes were being made to counter the growing amount of harassment occurring online. "Online communication is developing at such a fast pace, new ways of targeting and abusing individuals online are constantly emerging," said Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions at the CPS. "We are seeing more and more cases where social media is being used as a method to facilitate both existing and new offences. It is vital that prosecutors consider the bigger picture when looking at evidence and examine both the online and offline behaviour pattern of the defendant."
Accounts that spread "fake information" about victims could also face prosecution, the CPS said. If this false information is believed it could "damage" and "humiliate" the people it is targeted at -- a form of offensive communication.
Online harassment is disproportionately likely to affect women, with new legislation put into place in 2015 to combat the increase in revenge porn. In December, laws to combat domestic abusers who spy on or control victims online were put in place, with abusers facing up to five years in prison if convicted. "Worryingly, we have seen an increase in the use of cyber-enabled crime in cases related to violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse," said Saunders. "Offenders can mistakenly think that by using false online profiles and creating websites under a false name their offences are untraceable. Thankfully this is not the case, and an online footprint will be left by the offender."
Legislation rolled out in December created the offence of "controlling or coercive behaviour" in intimate or family relationships. The changes now mean domestic abusers who control their victims through social media accounts or spy on them online could face up to five years in prison.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
