Employee forsed to take leave over trolling".

[Deleted]

Love how people think freedom of speech means the right to be a rude harmful cunt.

[Deleted]

The problem with trolling is that it's counter productive to society. Stupid people (>90%) of the population can't handle dealing with trolls or being a troll. This at some point ended up on one hand with stupid people going all out emo after harsh comments that's obvious trolling and on the other hand stupid people laboring any wieve on any topic as trolling as soon as it dosen't fit in with their own.

---------- Post added 2012-08-29 at 05:22 PM ----------

I'm pretty sure anyone's got the freedom to make someone else's life miserable with being an arsehole. The fact some folks thinks that freedom is worth defending to be abused just shocks me.

Democracy pretty much runs on your first sentense so I gues you are right for the time being

[Deleted]

any good internet troll knows by now that death threats can fire back violently,that was not a troll,but a stupid internet newbz

[Deleted]

Good. Ppl think u can do what ever u want as long as its on the internet.

[Laize]

What the hell? Criminal prosecution? What the hell is wrong with Australian law? Isn't there such a thing as free speech?

[Jaylock]

Good. I fucking hate trolls. They're scum that use anonymity of the internet to say the most hateful, hurtful things. The troll should be sacked and jailed. Fuck 'em.

Good thing we have something called freedom of speech here in the good ole USA.

[time0ut]

In reference to your post:
Freedom of speech is the political right to communicate one's opinions and ideas via speech. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, as with libel, slander, obscenity, copyright violation and incitement to commit a crime.

I am guessing you are agreeing with me? Neither the woman in the OP story or the person I was responding to crossed the line you have described. That was the point of my post.

---------- Post added 2012-08-29 at 05:51 PM ----------

What the hell? Criminal prosecution? What the hell is wrong with Australian law? Isn't there such a thing as free speech?

I am not sure about Australia, but the UK has limitations on freedom of speech that would shock Americans. If you say something about someone and they get butt hurt about it, they can sue you.

[Laize]

Love how people think freedom of speech means the right to be a rude harmful cunt.

In America that's precisely what it means.

You're allowed to goose step down the street with a toothbrush moustache wearing a swastika on your arm shouting anti-semitism in German if that's what you want.

Other people are allowed to be offended. And that's pretty much all there is to it. Unless talk is seditious, conspiratorial or intended to incite a riot there's nothing that governs what you can say.

---------- Post added 2012-08-29 at 05:54 PM ----------

I am not sure about Australia, but the UK has limitations on freedom of speech that would shock Americans. If you say something about someone and they get butt hurt about it, they can sue you.

I love the UK and no offense, but the fact that you put up with that is insane.

[Tuvok]

The only power trolls have is the power YOU give them over you. You don't have to take to heart everything that everyone says, in fact it is stupid to do that. It's called disregarding what people say, it's not that hard to do.

People who are in favour of giving authorities the power to punish and even jail someone for speaking, think carefully about what precedents you are setting and where they could lead. Oh wait, you aren't thinking, you're just getting emotional because you are incapable of recognising a comment specifically designed to antagonise you from someone you don't even know, which means you are then incapable of disregarding it and sparing yourself any kind of emotional pain.

This reminds me of that guy in England that got jailed for taking the piss out of that footballer that had a heart attack on facebook - he had no criminal history, and got worse punishment than thugs that go around robbing people at knife point day in day out.

But of course expecting emotionally charged morons to make rational decisions regarding law is absurd. The sad things is, people that get emotional about trolls are too caught up in how angry they are to realise that. It's the same reason people want murderers killed, pedophiles tortured etc - they're just mad and want retribution and vengeance to sate their rage, justice has absolutely nothing to do with it for them because logical reasoning and intelligent deliberation is thrown out the window.

That is why I don't want this screaming mob of fools and dumbass celebrities abusing their influence to hand our freedom of speech on a platter to the authorities in the name of protecting people from trolls, because god knows some spineless politician will eventually cave somewhere along the line if enough overly-opinionated and under-educated people scream loud enough.

[k8e]

wow, there are a bunch of people in this thread that need to go hang themselves.

[Luko]

Good. I fucking hate trolls. They're scum that use anonymity of the internet to say the most hateful, hurtful things. The troll should be sacked and jailed. Fuck 'em.

Last time I checked, "Trolls" were just a fancy, internet savvy word for being a dickhead or a jerk. Those have been around for centuries. I don't think this extremely irrelevant, isolated incident is going to teach anyone anything.

[Deleted]

wow, there are a bunch of people in this thread that need to go hang themselves.

would you mind hanging yourself?

[Deleted]

Internet is a rough place, this is overreacting.

[Deleted]

Good thing we have something called freedom of speech here in the good ole USA.

Yeah not having the right to write abusive messages to people has really made my life hard to live.

[Wikiy]

Yeah not having the right to write abusive messages to people has really made my life hard to live.

Indeed. Gosh, i'm so sick of people revering freedom. Freedoms are just something your government lets you do because it's socially acceptable. Having the liberty to kill other people at will would also be called a freedom if it was socially acceptable, i wonder how many people are living hard lives because their government doesn't give them that freedom.

[Laize]

Yeah not having the right to write abusive messages to people has really made my life hard to live.

Different people have different values.

I value my right to own a handgun and engage in hate speech (if that's my desire). I, personally, do neither of those things but I'll protect Americans' rights to do them until the day I die.

[time0ut]

Yeah not having the right to write abusive messages to people has really made my life hard to live.

I agree with you. People shouldn't be allowed to write messages that I consider abusive. I consider your first message to be abusive. So, please stop posting.

[damntree]

would you mind hanging yourself?

I'll hang myself if you'll join me.

[Wildtree]

People defend the right to act like an asshole because there's no good reason to take that right away.

Careful. there are some very good reasons..... Above all else. LAWS....
That was in Australia, as far as we see.
And the Freedom of speech is defined as such in Australia:
Freedom of speech

Australians are free, within the bounds of the law, to say or write what we think privately or publicly, about the government, or about any topic. We do not censor the media and may criticise the government without fear of arrest. Free speech comes from facts, not rumours, and the intention must be constructive, not to do harm. There are laws to protect a person's good name and integrity against false information. There are laws against saying or writing things to incite hatred against others because of their culture, ethnicity or background. Freedom of speech is not an excuse to harm others.
To find here:

If somebody is an asshole to you, you just stop associating with them.

True, I do.... Doesn't mean everyone does, or does it?

People who take negative comments from people who have absolutely no room to make that negative comment (example: saying they're bad at basketball when they've never seen them play) seriously need to grow the fuck up.

Tell that to the families and friends of those who killed themselves over trolling and bullying..

It's like if I were to call you ugly. Would you take me, somebody who has no idea what you look like, seriously?

No, I would not... But that is me, and I am not every other human being. Neither are you, and the Australian Summary above in bold should be something in everyone's mind and common sense.
It is called MANNERS and basic human respect...... Something one gets taught when they are raised by their parents.

Someone else played the age card on page 1........ Well played, was just the wrong card I guess....
Let's look at is a little closer:
In recent years, a series of bullying-related suicides in the US and across the globe have drawn attention to the connection between bullying and suicide. Though too many adults still see bullying as "just part of being a kid," it is a serious problem that leads to many negative effects for victims, including suicide. Many people may not realize that there is also a link between being a bully and committing suicide.

The statistics on bullying and suicide are alarming:

- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.
Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University
A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying
10 to 14 year old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to the study above
According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying

Bully-related suicide can be connected to any type of bullying, including physical bullying, emotional bullying, cyberbullying, and sexting, or circulating suggestive or nude photos or messages about a person.
Source.

In conclusion: Stop talking bullcrap, and stop defending trolling and bullying. After all, if you are smart enough to run around on the internet, at least go and educate yourself about the platform. It's a BIG misconception to think the Internet would be a law-free space. It isn't and never was.
All laws existing in the outside world are as valid on the Internet. It gets actually a little trickier, since there aren't really "borders", and one can easily be subject to laws from other countries without knowing.
And many countries have a law principle that reads...."Lack of knowledge doesn't protect from punishment by the law."