Trolling is the posting of negative and destructive comments on social media / the Internet with the purpose of creating arguments, discord or to negatively impact a debate. For some, the intention is to deliberately provoke a response, whereas for others, this may be their particular style of communication. However, it is perceived by those on the receiving end as super-critical or as an ‘attack’. This type of feedback is darker in its message and intent compared with constructive criticism.
Doxing (or doxxing) is the malicious sharing of documents or personal information online or on social media about a person with malicious intent: to cause embarrassment, to damage their reputation or to exert leverage. Examples include: sharing a professional’s home address, phone number, personal information about a professional and/or their family member, or posting private photos (home, children, school).
Cyberbullying means “Tormenting, humiliating, and/or threatening someone using online or mobile communication technologies” (Chandler and Munday, 2016, p. 1).
The right to be forgotten (the right to erasure under article 17 of the GDPR), is the right to ask a data controller to have information about you (data) erased under certain conditions. Click here to find out what these grounds are.
A defamatory statement “means a statement that tends to injure a person’s reputation in the eyes of reasonable members of society, and “defamatory” shall be construed accordingly” (Defamation Act 2009, revised December 2020).
’Cancel culture’ is the “practice of excluding somebody from social or professional life by refusing to communicate with them online or in real life, because they have said or done something that other people do not agree with” (Oxford Dictionary).
The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Coco’s Law) in addition to dealing with the publication of non-consensual intimate images, also amends the law relating to harassment. Under Section 4 - “distributing, publishing or sending threatening or grossly offensive communication” - a person could be found guilty, if
“(a) by any means,
(i) distributes or publishes any threatening or grossly offensive communication about another person, or
(ii) sends any threatening or grossly offensive communication to another person, and
(b) with intent by so distributing, publishing or sending to cause harm”.
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Source: Burns et al. (2021) - scroll down the webpage to download the full guide
