High Court Orders Facebook To Reveal Internet Bullies

[sugarfree irony]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...=feeds-newsxml

A mother who was sent death threats by so-called internet ‘trolls’ has won a landmark legal case against Facebook.

Nicola Brookes was tormented for months by anonymous internet bullies after she left an innocent message of support for an X Factor contestant on the social networking site.

She went to police to make a complaint but claimed officers told her to go home.
Now she has won a legal order forcing Facebook to disclose the identities of the trolls. It is the first time an individual has won such an order and Miss Brookes, 45, hopes to pursue private prosecutions against those responsible for her months of ‘vicious and depraved’ abuse.

Charities said the High Court ruling sent a message to the cyber bullies that their anonymity can be stripped away, leaving them open to prosecution.

Miss Brookes’s ordeal began last November when her daughter told her that an X Factor contestant, Frankie Cocozza, had received hate mail on Facebook. Stung by the cruelty, the mother left a message on his Facebook page, saying simply: ‘Keep your chin up, Frankie, they’ll move on to someone else soon.’
How it started: Nicola's support for X Factor's Frankie Cocozza led to a horrid hate-campaign against her

How it started: Nicola's support for X Factor's Frankie Cocozza led to a horrid hate-campaign against her

Within minutes bullies on the site turned on her, writing vile abuse including ‘Your [sic] a desperate pedo b****’ and ‘Ur [sic] a ****ing dog’. More than 100 cruel messages were left in just 24 hours. Miss Brookes said: ‘Facebook users began deliberately targeting me, writing under my comment that I was a paedophile and hoping that I would die.’

Worse followed when an online bully set up a fake Facebook profile in Miss Brookes’ name, with her photo and personal email address, and used it to send explicit messages to thousands of children, some as young as nine.

On Mother’s Day this year, trolls published the single mother’s home address in Brighton.

Horrified, she reported the abuse to Facebook and the police, but said officers did nothing to help her. She said one officer told her she could leave a dossier of evidence ‘but we won’t read it’.

Miss Brookes has remained on Facebook despite the abuse and said she was determined not to be bullied into quitting the site.

Her legal action would have cost her up to £5,000 but her solicitors Bains Cohen agreed to take the case for free because of her horrific treatment. Lawyer Rupinder Bains said Facebook had not contested the action and had agreed to hand over the information within six weeks.

Should the police have done more to help her ? I find it disturbing that they leaped to harassing children in a explicit way while posing as Miss Brookes . You tell a reality star to keep his chin up and suddenly people are trying to portray you as a pedophile . The article is long and I did not want to post the whole thing parts of it suggest she "ranted" about the harassment online perhaps feeding the trolls .

[JGo555]

Oh how I hope these assholes get RIMMED with a garden rake.

Ironically I used to chat like a fiend around 2002 & my husband decided to go into the same chatroom to troll the hell out of it.
Another time he logged in & that's how we ended up married.

[Northernspark]

It seems to depend where you live as to how seriously the police take these threats. In my area there are police dedicated to protecting Young People from the threat of online bullying/trolling. We have a site that they can report to, or a number they can call. I'm not sure how effective it is, but at least it's there. And at least the officers, not even a handfull mind, are trained to deal with things like this. There's quite a few of us demanding that a new taskforce is needed, one that covers Adults as well as kids, and general training for the average copper on the issues the digital age has turfed up. But police cuts, recession etc. Shame. Hope she manages to stop these shits, and continues a campaign for safety from them and the likes of them.

[HeatherHabilatory]

It seems to depend where you live as to how seriously the police take these threats. In my area there are police dedicated to protecting Young People from the threat of online bullying/trolling. We have a site that they can report to, or a number they can call. I'm not sure how effective it is, but at least it's there. And at least the officers, not even a handfull mind, are trained to deal with things like this. There's quite a few of us demanding that a new taskforce is needed, one that covers Adults as well as kids, and general training for the average copper on the issues the digital age has turfed up. But police cuts, recession etc. Shame. Hope she manages to stop these shits, and continues a campaign for safety from them and the likes of them.

This shit goes way further than bullying, though.

They did THIS to her:

Worse followed when an online bully set up a fake Facebook profile in Miss Brookes’ name, with her photo and personal email address, and used it to send explicit messages to thousands of children, some as young as nine.

That's fucked UP!

[DamagedGoods]

I dislike that they keep talking about this being the act of "bullies" as if it were somehow akin to school kids calling another kid names. This goes a tad beyond that to say the least, but because it's done over the internet, it's treated as less criminal than if someone did this "IRL." Never mind the fact that over the internet the audience is far vaster, and her personal information can be spread over that potential audience far faster. Actual crimes were committed using her real identity.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

I dislike that Facebook (the company) is somehow made to be part of the problem in many of the media headlines for this case - like this woman somehow took on a giant and won.

Their privacy policy clearly states that they aren't going to give out info unless legally ordered. I am glad that FB doesn't reveal personal info and IPs without a court order. I would hate to have them giving out info willy nilly at the discretion of some employee.

[Northernspark]

I agree Heather, but the Police need basic awareness training of all this in the first place, what happened is Child abuse under UK Law. Sharing an explicit message or photo with a Minor. And the perpertator should be charged as such. There should also be further charges of Identity Fraud, plus around six or seven other charges that might be apply. It's getting the Police to recognise this type of Crime in the first place that seems really hard. All totally fucked up hon.