"Part of the problem is the way the laws are written. The federal government and most states have enacted anti-cyberstalking statutes that bar repeated use of electronic communications to frighten others. But during an online hate storm, individual members of the mob might send only one or two threatening messages each—not enough to constitute a pattern, as the laws require, says Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and the author of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace.
On the flip side, the volume of threats in a troll frenzy can overwhelm police even when they are unlawful. “What do you do when you have 200,000 threats?” Citron says. “What do you say to law enforcement? Go arrest all of them?”"
- Date Published:08/09/2018
- Original Publication:Washingtonian