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(05-13-2015, 06:28 AM)Foxberry Wrote:(05-13-2015, 06:26 AM)Graeham Ridgefield Wrote:(05-13-2015, 06:22 AM)Meena Wrote: The person you -are- attacking (if you are) can read what you are saying and cyber bullying and slander is ILLEGAL.
Just a note but whilst this is technically true very little is actually done to enforce it. Most people don't bother reporting it since even if it is taken seriously the legal chaos isn't something a lot of people want to endure.
Laws also differ from country to country and the internet isn't very well regulated in general. I suspect that those responsible realise this and thus act out because they can, essentially, count on getting away with it in many cases.
I actually dealt with slander on tumblr, and I can attest that they will do nothing about it. I reported it, explained the situation. And I got messages back stating "Tumblr cannot say what Slander is, so we will not police our users' content in this regard." And said for me to take it up with the police themselves.
Technically, when it is on the internet is is libel. Also, libel and slander are civil matters and not usually overseen by actual law enforcement, in most cases. The response given from Tumblr here is a bit nuts. The wronged party says what slander and/or libel is, not the forum in which it was done. Further, not taking steps to remove libelous content can leave one pretty darn exposed in a legal sense. Though I am sure they have some sort of blanket CYA loop hole to jump though.Â
Further fun fact, you only have to prove libelous content is untrue in order to have a legally ordered/binding retraction published. Malice only counts if you are attempting to go after specific damages. I have seen more than one person forced to publish a retraction on their blog/facebook/live journal/you tube vid/whatever over libelous content. That said, given super fun happy times of some Tumblr posts malicious intent is really not a hard thing to prove at all. ;p
Moral of this story? It pays to remember that the internet counts as a broadcast medium when posting stuff. Remember people, you absolutely have a right to free speech. You also have a responsibility to accept any and all consequences for what you say. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go scream "FIRE!" in a crowded area and accept what will be coming to me. ;p