Should internet trolls be punished? UK - Stella Creasy: MP faced probe after online troll contacted police

[~ True Legend ~]

An MP has accused police of giving the "green light" to internet trolls after a complaint saw her subjected to a social services investigation.

Stella Creasy: MP left humiliated after online troll contacted police

Labour MP Stella Creasy was investigated after a troll told authorities her children were at risk.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Walthamstow Labour MP said the man, from Leicester, disagreed with her campaign against misogyny.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Creasy said the man had initially emailed her office angry about the work she was doing to tackle violence against women.

She ignored them as she gets "a lot of emails like that, lots of MPs do and you think people are entitled to their opinion".

She then received a call from social services informing her they had held a safeguarding investigation over an allegation her children were at "direct risk".

"I was horrified and humiliated," she said.

"My children now have a social services record and it sets the green light that in public life, you can target these children. I think most people would think that's unacceptable."

Stella Creasy was told the complainant would not face criminal sanctions as he was "entitled" to his view her children should be taken into care.

The initial complaint was made to Leicestershire Police who then referred it to the council, Waltham Forest, who said it was legally required to look into it.
The council said a panel, which was made up of social workers, then met to discuss the case.
Although the panel decided no action was needed, it is legally prevented from removing the complaint from its record.

Leicestershire Police said it had investigated a "number of emails" sent to the MP and gave the man a community resolution rather than a formal sanction because the messages did not meet the threshold for a criminal offence.

It said the content of the messages had "understandably caused upset and distress" to the MP and officers had spoken to the sender who admitted he was responsible and apologised.

Ms Creasy said she was not "pushing for a prosecution" but for a caution as that would have meant the details would have gone into the police intelligence database.
"Having worked on harassment legislation myself, the irony is not lost on me that one of the challenges we've been trying to raise in tackling harassment against women, is the attitude of the police and that's exactly what I experienced," she said.

Ms Creasy added she was "passionate about safeguarding" and "we can't have the system corrupted in this way".

The MP also voiced concerns that instances like this were "damaging the whole of public life".

She said MPs did not want to be "put into glass cages" but this was "the reason why a lot of women are put off" standing to be an MP as it is "women who are targeted".
"It's not a matter of free speech, the police acted as if his free speech to argue without any evidence at all - he'd never met me, seen my children, he'd never been in a room with us; he simply disagreed with my views.

"That can't stand in a thriving democracy because it's going to drive people out of it."

The force said it had told him to not contact Ms Creasy and there had been no report of further unwanted contact.

A spokesman said: "Leicestershire Police takes any report of harassment extremely seriously and will carry out a full investigation into the report and take the appropriate action.
"The force remains fully committed to keeping women and girls safe, listening to concerns and tackling violence."

According to the Sentencing Council, a community resolution is an "informal, non-statutory disposal used for dealing with less serious crime and anti-social behaviour where the offender accepts responsibility".

"The views of the victim are taken into account in reaching an informal agreement between the parties which can involve restorative justice techniques," it adds.
Waltham Forest Council said: "All safeguarding allegations are dealt with in line with the national legislation. We have a duty to treat each case seriously and ensure the statutory process is followed."

 

[Shortie]

No matter where you go, you will always get internet trolls. Some of them do things that are pretty harmless whilst others take things too far.

In this case, I do think the troll took it a little too far which resulted in someone's life being turned upside down because they didn't agree with something.

If a troll takes things as far as this and it ends up being close to a crime committed then I do feel they should be punished.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

No matter where you go, you will always get internet trolls. Some of them do things that are pretty harmless whilst others take things too far.

In this case, I do think the troll took it a little too far which resulted in someone's life being turned upside down because they didn't agree with something.

If a troll takes things as far as this and it ends up being close to a crime committed then I do feel they should be punished.

The issue is, how do you know the difference between a troll and someone's honest opinion?
There are lots of delusional ppl out there, and many with disabilities/issues/etc that impact them.

 

[Shortie]

The issue is, how do you know the difference between a troll and someone's honest opinion?
There are lots of delusional ppl out there, and many with disabilities/issues/etc that impact them.

This is the big issue and it would unfortunately take for someone to troll and commit the crime so to speak to be able to catch them and deal with them.

As much as there are laws now, they are still easy to get around in some cases due to that issue.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

This is the big issue and it would unfortunately take for someone to troll and commit the crime so to speak to be able to catch them and deal with them.

As much as there are laws now, they are still easy to get around in some cases due to that issue.

All it take is for one to say it was not their intention to cause distress.