Law will treat online hate speech like street abuse

INTERNET trolls will face prosecution for hate-filled speech as if they had abused people on the streets, under new legal guidelines.

Hate crimes perpetrated on social media will be taken as seriously as ‘offline’ offences as part of a clampdown on unacceptable cyber behaviour, it will be announced today.

The Crown Prosecution Service said bullies will be treated with the ‘same robust and proactive approach used with offline offending’.

The guidelines the CPS sets for prosecutors has been updated to take account of the mounting number of cases sparked by abuse in cyberspace.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: ‘Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and that is why it is a priority area for the CPS. It can affect entire communities, forcing people to change their

‘Force people to live in fear’

way of life and live in fear.’ She added: ‘These documents take account of the current breadth and context of offending to provide prosecutors with the best possible chance of achieving justice for victims.’

The guidance for prosecutors comes after MPs revealed how they suffered a spate of anonymous personal abuse online during the election campaign.

Community groups monitoring antiSemitic and Islamophobic abuse also report that a significant proportion of incidents involve the internet.

The revised documents cover different strands of hate crime, such as abuse aimed at disabled people.

The documents say: ‘Hate crime can be perpetrated online or offline, or there can be a pattern of behaviour that includes both.

‘The internet and social media in particular have provided new platforms for offending behaviour.’

In 2015/16 the CPS completed a record 15,442 hate crime prosecutions.