In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4]
This sense of the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, but have been used more widely. Media attention in recent years has equated trolling with online harassment. For example, mass media has used troll to describe “a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families.”[5][6]
Source: BBC
Internet trolls face up to two years in jail under new laws
Internet trolls could face up to two years in jail under new laws, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said.
He told the Mail on Sunday quadrupling the current maximum six-month term showed his determination to “take a stand against a baying cyber-mob”.
The plan was announced days after TV presenter Chloe Madeley suffered online abuse, which Mr Grayling described as “crude and degrading”.
She has welcomed the proposed laws but said social media should be regulated.
Social media ‘venom’
Under the new measures, magistrates could pass serious cases on to crown courts.
Mr Grayling told the newspaper: “These internet trolls are cowards who are poisoning our national life.
“No-one would permit such venom in person, so there should be no place for it on social media. That is why we are determined to quadruple the current six-month sentence.”
Miss Madeley received threats after defending her mother Judy Finnigan’s comments on a rape committed by footballer Ched Evans, which she said was “non-violent” and did not cause “bodily harm”.
Additional Reading
Freedom of Speech: A Core Islamic Value!
Examining Both Sides: Freedom of Speech and Its Limitations?
Categories: Europe and Australia, Free speach, Free Speech, Freedom
The Holy Quran does encourage polite and judicious speech, for example:
I believe that exceptions to free speech that the European Union has claimed for herself, should be allowed to each country or religion, until we can have truly a Global Village and then we will need a universal understanding of these issues.
European Convention of Human Rights
I think many of the exceptions for freedom of speech are tackled in the Article 10 of European Convention of Human Rights.
This Article provides the right to freedom of expression, subject to certain restrictions that are “in accordance with law” and “necessary in a democratic society”. This right includes the freedom to hold opinions, and to receive and impart information and ideas, but allows restrictions for:
We would certainly need the best legal minds humanity can offer to give concrete and legalistic details of the above exceptions that may be acceptable to people of all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities.
If the Supreme Court Justices do not come to our rescue, may be a good and an accomplished writer can help out with a best selling book. But, the key is to at least, win the moderates, in all the established religions of the world and among the agnostics and atheists.