People who make death threats on the internet should go to jail?

[Mr.Mattress]

I think Internet Death Threats are what Lawsuits are made for. Jail is way too much, because in most cases they aren't serious. However, this is definitely something people should be allowed to sue for. Then the internet should calm down just a little bit more...

 

[Astoria]

I think the problem is that people think they can hide behind a user name on the internet and not be tracked which is just not true. If people knew that they could be tracked, found and punished for what they were doing just like they could if they were threatening people face to face then it would happen a hell of a lot less. There's too much of it going around for the police to keep track of so I think people just need to use common sense and report people online when they get threatened and go to the police about it. Then the cops just need to send a warning letter or email to person to let them know that they are being tracked and if another occurrence happens charges will be pressed. That would stop 99% of people.

 

[Gormech]

Or ... you could just mute them with a press of a button, shoot/stab them in-game if the format allows, block them, turn off the console, leave the lobby, or any other regular way of avoiding undesirable people on the internet. Now if there's evidence of them trying to find out who you are/where you live, then legal action should take place. Until that point, I'd say that the person being threatened is overreacting.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Sorry, but this whole thing is running headfirst into the basics of ideals vs. reality.

For starters, there simply isn't enough Police manpower out there to enforce something like this. Can you imagine how difficult it would be for the Cops to stop by every house where not just someone made a threat, but if someone said anything that could be construed as a threat? Literally almost impossible.

2nd, a death threat is generally only considered illegal when the threat itself is considered legitimate (except under certain circumstances). For example, if say "I'm going to kill the person on Escapist with username ME3Sucks (I just made up that name)", it's not really a legitimate threat, as I don't know the person's name, or even which country they live in.

3rd, what constitutes a death threat? If I say "I hope you get in a car wreck and die", is that a death threat? I didn't say that I was going to kill the person, but I did say that I hoped they would die. Should the Police come to my house?

4th, how do they find out who you are? Let's say (again) that I made a death threat on Escapist. Since looking at my username doesn't tell them anything, in order for the Police to find out who I am and where I live, they would have to subpoena Escapist to get my information. This, to me, sounds like an extreme overreach of power of the Government.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

I'm not sure if that's the answer but SOMETHING has to be done.

Internet culture is poison. While the vast majority of internet people are sane and nice people, the internet just poisons the brain of some people for some reason and it has got to stop (and the normal people need to stop letting it happen).

I hope that jail-time or fines are not going to be a step that is required but if it has to be done to change the internet mind-set, then so be it. It's reached such a ridiculous level that some steps need to be taken to stem the tide of shit that the internet is turning into.

Fines don't seem that bad. A death threat is a serious thing. If it's just some kid, well, that'll teach him. His parents certainly won't let him live it down; probably be a few months before he upgrades from an iPhonewhatever to an iPhonewhatever-mega. (Kids have it so good today. Geez.)If it's an adult, they should know better, and they SHOULD be fined. If they're really such a pathetic human being, I'm not gonna feel too sorry if they have to pay a couple hundred, or even a few thousand bucks.

Jail time, maybe a little extreme, but I still wouldn't get too bent out shape about it. Maybe forcing someone to attend several months of sensitivity training, that they have to pay for, of course. Hahahahaha. I don't know if that actually works, it's probably bullshit, but I'll bet it would discourage them.

 

[Yopaz]

Is it legal over the phone, where it can be done with an equal amount of anonymity between public phone use, phreaking, and/or spoofing? How about mail, is it legal there? How about in person, is it legal to threaten to kill someone in person? If "no", then it shouldn't be bloody legal online, now should it.

The internet is not a privileged venue of telecommunications, where keyboard use is not some magical barrier from investigation, prosecution, and even conviction.

According to what I have heard a threat is equally illegal over Internet as it is person to person. So it should be treated just as seriously. Sadly people aren't aware of the fact.

The main problem with making threats and punishing the person who made the threat is that the internet makes it really hard to track someone. Someone who's clever can be more or less invisible if he knows his stuff. It's also the global thing which makes it possible to live in Australia and threaten an American without adding any hassle to the process of making the threat, but it makes it a lot more troublesome to catch the guy even when able to track him.

Because of this it's hard to say what to do about this.

 

[Korolev]

Jail? Hm - not at first. Many of the people making these threats are dumb kids who can't control themselves. Putting them in jail and giving them a criminal record might mess them up for life and create a recurring problem. Criminals who go to jail often don't come out as good people - they often end up worse than when they entered.

Of course, persistent, adult offenders who make threats for the purposes of harassing or intimidating people should probably go to jail. Let me put it another way - say someone persistently puts threatening messages in your mailbox. Messages which describe how they are going to hurt you or kill you and your family. That's unacceptable, right? Now you could say "Just don't have a mailbox!", but that's not right, you need to have a mailbox.

Such behaviour is equally unacceptable online. Oh, and this has nothing to do with free-speech - free speech does not cover threats, it never has, it never will.

I would fine a first time offender, give community service to a second-time offender, cut of internet access for, like, 2 months for a third time offender, and if they still don't get the message, a couple of weeks in prison might get the message across - the internet is not an excuse to act uncivilized.

 

[rob_simple]

I think they should just have a name and shame campaign, like what The Sun loves doing with paedophiles. See how the threateners like being on the receiving end of the unbridled waves of hatred, for a change.

There was a brilliant story about a semi-pro boxer in the UK who had been getting abused by one guy for weeks on Twitter, so he finally snapped and said, 'alright mate, since you seem to know what makes a great boxer, I'll come round to your house and fight you right now' and he managed to track the guy down and turn up at his door, at which point the little dick caved in an apologised for all the abuse.

Then again, that whole eye for an eye thing can quickly get out of hand.

 

[ace_of_something]

If that happens, I'm going to quit my job as a detective. I have way more important shit to do.

How about just a fine?

 

[Agayek]

No. Just no. One should never go to jail for something one said, with the possible exception of such words being used to incite/inflict real, physical harm upon another. This includes death threats, in every form, verbal, written, or digital.

Now, that doesn't mean the vile cesspool that is the internet does not need an overhaul to reduce the level of bile, that much goes without question. It just means that levying jailtime is not the way to do it, just ask Justin Carter after all.

IMO, the ideal solution is for the community as a whole to act. Don't just sit back and watch when you see someone pulling shit like that. If someone makes a post about how such and such is the devil and should be run over by a combine harvester, call them out on being a twat. Bring ungodly levels of peer pressure to bear to let these idiots know that their behavior isn't acceptable and if they continue to be douche titans, they will be treated as such and subject to all the scorn and derision that entails.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yes, threatening to kill someone should be illegal, no matter what the medium.

Having said that though, there are degrees of severity. You have randoms saying that during an online game, not a big deal. But you also have people being silenced or driven away from places because of death threats they receive that get backed up. Sending death threats to, say, a doctor that performs abortions, a feminist activist or a gay couple and telling them you are going to murder them because of your bigotry is no small thing, because bigots actually do go round murdering.

I don't recall anyone following through on a death threat about playing an online game.

 

[Wickatricka]

Really not sure about escapist users anymore. They all seem to want to cry to big brother that people are picking on them on the internet. I mean seriously the person who takes those death threats seriously or the internet in general need to have it taken away.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Really not sure about escapist users anymore. They all seem to want to cry to big brother that people are picking on them on the internet. I mean seriously the person who takes those death threats seriously or the internet in general need to have it taken away.

And if they do get murdered, it's their fault for not taking it seriously enough?

 

[Signa]

I'm going to kill you ArnRand for making this bullshit of a thread and wasting my time![footnote]Mods: I know I'm toeing a line with the first line of my post, but I'm trying to make a point. If it's still out of line for you, please let me know before punishing me.[/footnote]

...

Now that I've made a death threat, do you fear for your life? You shouldn't. There isn't much way for me to find out exactly who the person that goes by ArnRand is. I could do a bit of googling and get lucky, but not even your Escapist profile tells me which country to start looking in, your age, or if you're male of female. This is quite different than any other medium of communication, because everything else requires at the very least, personally identifying information like your phone number. I could call it and call it all night long to harass you relentlessly. If I mailed you a threat, I'd have knowledge of your house address. If I left one on your car's windshield, I'd have knowledge of your movements and whereabouts. Each one allows for a greater and greater chance of actually following through with the threat, or at least disrupting your daily life. On the internet, you can just choose to not visit a site, set up blocking filters, change your name or email addresses, or even send death threats back with the same impunity. Making laws and involving law enforcement in this issue is asking the government to take control over every facet of our lives, and you do not want to live in a nanny state.

That's why people are so casual about this problem. They know that doing anything about it will just make worse problems for literally everyone.

So....Why is it magically different?

That's why.

 

[RicoADF]

There's been a spate of high profile threats here in the UK, mainly against women in the public eye, based on some controversy about who should go an our banknotes. And there's a topic about a Bioware writer who apparently quit over threats to her family, so this seems topical.

Here's my position: The person being threatened should be able to press charges against the threatener, and no one else should be able to get involved. The punishment should be a big fine or a few weeks in jail. Repeat offences should have harsher punishments.

What's your opinion?

EDIT: Whoops, posted in the wrong forum. Mods, can you move it to off topic? (or wherever you think it should go.)

Id' say the normal punishment for the crime committed, so in most cases verbal assault, harassment etc charges would be laid. Those jerks need to learn that just because your online doesn't mean your not responsible for your actions and the law will punish accordingly.

 

[Strain42]

People who receive death threats over the internet should think less of it. The actual crime of making a death threat includes that there is a reasonable chance they'll carry it out, which is seldom the case. I realise that the fact they're death threats makes the person sending them a bit more of a dick than generally people are, but they're still harmless.

So if I were to look up the phone number for a random Burger King in say...Dinosaur, Colorado, a town I have never been to, will probably never go to, and is almost 2,000 miles away from me, and then call that number to inform whoever answers the phone that I want nothing more in life than to slit their throat and use that wound as a ketchup packet for some of their sweet potato fries before chucking their body into a sewer...That's totally okay and the person shouldn't think anything of it because there's no reasonable chance I'd ever be able to carry it out?

Death threats are a serious thing, and even over the net they should be treated the exact same way as face to face, over the phone, or through letters. I mean hell, it's already illegal through letters, isn't an e-mail literally an electronic letter? Why should it be any different?

The problem is we seem to be living in a society where death threats have become a standard form of comeback, or ways to express displeasure, especially over the internet, and because it's so common we have people with the attitude of "Eh, it's harmless."

Yeah, I guarantee that 99% or more of death threats made over the internet come from people who have no intention of acting on them and probably are just blowing off steam.

But we shouldn't have to try and figure out which ones are which. I dunno what the appropriate punishment should be for something like this, but I guarantee you that if there was any punishment we'd probably have a lot less death threats floating around the net, and I just can't understand why anyone would consider that a negative thing.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Now that I've made a death threat, do you fear for your life? You shouldn't. There isn't much way for me to find out exactly who the person that goes by ArnRand is. I could do a bit of googling and get lucky, but not even your Escapist profile tells me which country to start looking in, your age, or if you're male of female. This is quite different than any other medium of communication, because everything else requires at the very least, personally identifying information like your phone number. I could call it and call it all night long to harass you relentlessly. If I mailed you a threat, I'd have knowledge of your house address. If I left one on your car's windshield, I'd have knowledge of your movements and whereabouts. Each one allows for a greater and greater chance of actually following through with the threat, or at least disrupting your daily life. On the internet, you can just choose to not visit a site, set up blocking filters, change your name or email addresses, or even send death threats back with the same impunity. Making laws and involving law enforcement in this issue is asking the government to take control over every facet of our lives, and you do not want to live in a nanny state.

Right. All internet death threats are done via the Escapist or some similar system.

You couldn't, for example, send a threat to someone via their company email address, or on a blog which mentions they'll be going to a certain convention or anything. It's totally unheard of in death threats done using the internet. to mention or include photos of people's addresses, place of work, or their kid's schools.

Hell, you can't even know people on the internet IRL.

And, of course, the person on the receiving end can be very sure of all these.

 

[Filiecs]

So if I were to look up the phone number for a random Burger King in say...Dinosaur, Colorado, a town I have never been to, will probably never go to, and is almost 2,000 miles away from me, and then call that number to inform whoever answers the phone that I want nothing more in life than to slit their throat and use that wound as a ketchup packet for some of their sweet potato fries before chucking their body into a sewer...That's totally okay and the person shouldn't think anything of it because there's no reasonable chance I'd ever be able to carry it out?

Death threats are a serious thing, and even over the net they should be treated the exact same way as face to face, over the phone, or through letters. I mean hell, it's already illegal through letters, isn't an e-mail literally an electronic letter? Why should it be any different?

The problem is we seem to be living in a society where death threats have become a standard form of comeback, or ways to express displeasure, especially over the internet, and because it's so common we have people with the attitude of "Eh, it's harmless."

Yeah, I guarantee that 99% or more of death threats made over the internet come from people who have no intention of acting on them and probably are just blowing off steam.

But we shouldn't have to try and figure out which ones are which. I dunno what the appropriate punishment should be for something like this, but I guarantee you that if there was any punishment we'd probably have a lot less death threats floating around the net, and I just can't understand why anyone would consider that a negative thing.

The problem is the the police simply don't have the time or resources to care about death threats that lack a motive or are unlikely to be carried out. If you called someone that far away from you and told them that threat I highly doubt that anyone would bother you, especially if they had no idea who you were.

There are actual crimes or threats with an actual likleyhood behind them that the police need to worry about, the key point being likleyhood. I do think that repeated, detailed, and specifically targeted threats should be treated very seriously.

Another difference is that phone calls/physical mail requires a specific amount of dedication, pre-meditation, and research. Finding a person's email address or sending them a message on a social networking site is not nearly as labor-intensive, and can be easily done on a whim.

There probably would be a lot less toxicity on the internet if people could get in trouble for death threats, but the implications of such a system are worrisome and the amount of resources required for such a system to work would be enormous.

It would be much more efficient to teach people to be more emotionally resilient and to teach people how to be civil online than to attempt to punish anyone who writes a death threat.

 

[ChaplainOrion]

I say that there should be several approaches based on the intensity of the death threat. If the person mentions private information, that is not out on the internet publicly, (such as living location, family, job description, etc..) that person should have the hammer brought down on them since they are too invested in this and need to be taken care of immediately. If they send multiple death threats directed at them involving them as the attacker and the receiver as the victim, they should get community service. If they are caught spamming death threats, I'm pretty sure that's just harassment and there's already laws about that. inciting panic through trolling and such should be community service. Really community service would be a better thing for all these low level stuff. Most of the time it's just kids and community service is such a light punishment it would be like grounding them.

 

[Lieju]

Really not sure about escapist users anymore. They all seem to want to cry to big brother that people are picking on them on the internet. I mean seriously the person who takes those death threats seriously or the internet in general need to have it taken away.

Threats like 'I'm gonna kill you, Wickatricka, for sucking at CoD', maybe. It's clear the person making the threat is threatening an anonymous name on a forum. (Doesn't mean it's okay, though)

But I have been attacked and assaulted for my political beliefs. In real life.
If I get an e-mail or another message on the net (like Facebook) threatening me, what reason do I have to believe they aren't those people or their friends?
Should that be okay just because they used the Internet to deliver the message?