After years of inaction against those who use social media to
abuse, threaten and humiliate people, the law is finally being used
to strike back. There has been a flurry of court cases taken
against perpetrators, and they are being convicted.
Anneka Frayne, solicitor with Stacks Law Firm, has long
advocated using the law to fight back against online abusers.
Three in five Australian adults say they have been the target of
online abuse, and even though it' s a tiny fraction of the
abuse, the number of people charged for "using a carriage
service to menace, harass or offend" has doubled in the past
five years.
Fairfax Media reported that last year 1,585 charges were laid
for online abuse resulting in 1,111 convictions. The most common
punishment was a $700 fine, far less than the maximum penalty of
three years. But Ms Frayne says the law is closing in on the
abusers.
