(Just ask those unsuspecting one-time criminals who were prosecuted for theft after the London riots of 2011.)
The Wild West?
The bottom line is that our fascination with handy digital devices sometimes blinds us to the fact that the digital world still represents an emerging technology - and an emerging culture.
Much has happened since Sir Tim Berners-Lee and others started playing around with linking documents on remote computers back in the 1980s. Yet, in terms of communications technologies, we are still probably only halfway through the digital revolution.
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We can only begin to imagine the full impact our increasing engagement with digital media will have on social structures in, say, 10 or 20 years' time. For now, the web still has a strong element of the Wild West about it.
When a culture has at its core a high level of uncertainty, egocentric or unscrupulous individuals will take advantage of that uncertainty. In the internet's case, they also exploit the trust people place in its can-do environment.
It is not technology but human trust that drives most of what we do online. Without trust, online communities will quickly dissipate and people will take their eyes and ears elsewhere.
Supposedly anonymous online threats are simply examples of anti-social behaviour - of the most spineless variety. They should be dealt with as such, under the full weight of existing laws.
The Long Arm of the Law
Explicit threats of violence, whether they're made online or offline, should be met by stiff legal penalties. In the case of social networking, this is an area of law that is still developing.
Existing laws offer clear recourse for people who have suffered slander which causes emotional distress, or the loss of earnings or reputation. These laws are slowly being applied as rigorously to the social media world as they are to the offline world.
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However, much more needs to be done to demonstrate that laws dealing with violent threats also apply to social media. Potential offenders must be clear that the seeming faceless nature of social networking will offer no protection against prosecution.
The wider problem of insults and verbal vitriol on the internet is harder to overcome, at least where the law is concerned. Where there is no slander or threat of violence, it is difficult to argue for attempts to legislate general respect or courtesy.
In the end, Twitter and its peer platforms must lift their game by offering easy-to-use mechanisms for reporting abuse. If, however, we expect them to constantly police the merely discourteous or disrespectful they may become too preoccupied to improve their services in these other, more important ways.
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