ICT Ethical and Moral Issues Trolling Group trolling – where several people collude to post threatening messages. Case Study CASE STUDY 2

A 17 year old girl, was subjected to cyber-bullying following a physical attack in a supermarket in Devon. She was the target of a racist trolling attack on Facebook. TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

Social Networks and Trolling I got home that night and it was all over Facebook." She added: "I showed my mum and started crying." She said comments being posted about her on Facebook included "she is dirty" and "she doesn't wash". "Lots of people got involved, there were 19 pages of it," she said. TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

The Police and the Magistrates She went to the police and five teenage girls were arrested. The teenagers who posted the abuse ended up in court charged with posting offensive messages. Magistrates said they were deeply concerned by the cyber-bullying and gave referral orders to the five girls responsible. TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

The Official Position A government spokesman said: "So called 'trolls' who send abusive messages are breaking the law.“ The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for policies aimed at preventing cyber bullying and "trolling". TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

The Official Position The spokesman said: "The Crown Prosecution Service brought over 2,000 prosecutions under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 last year and two individuals were jailed for trolling in 2011.” "The fundamental principle for internet hosted material is that what is illegal off-line is also illegal on-line.“ This figure is rising as police are now identifying more trollers. TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

Is going to the police – a good or bad thing? What do you think? Read her comments….. TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

How she felt. "At first I was really nervous about going to the police. I thought it was going to make it worse, but going to the police made it a lot better. "They dealt with it straight away and did a really good job.“ “It took me a while to get over it," she said, it was really horrible at the time.” TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Background

TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. So what do YOU think? Was she overreacting or do you think she did the right thing by getting the police to investigate? Do you think the sentence on the teenagers was “hard” enough? How do you think the police tracked them down ?

TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. Look at the comment sheet and fill in the comments on your computer or on the printed sheet – Case Study 2 Comments Debate allowed – if you are unsure discuss the points with your peers or with the teacher. The following slides can be used to fill in some of the possible answers. It’s not all black and white….or grey.

TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. So what do YOU think? Was she overreacting or do you think she did the right thing by getting the police to investigate? A choice? In her case she was so upset and the remarks were racist she felt she had to go to the police. She could have ignored them but the chances are they would have carried on.

TEENAGER KNOWS THE CRUEL REALITY OF CYBER BULLYING. So what do YOU think? Do you think the sentence on the teenagers was “hard” enough? The sentence was given as a deterrent to others, and reflects a sentence that would have been given to someone in the racist abuse had happened on the street. The judge followed the government guidelines for this sort of offence.