Internet Troll Sentenced to Jail

On Facebook, Reese Elliot was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for threatening to kill school children in Tennessee. As sick as his threats were, the man lives in the UK.

Troll sentenced to jail

People can say some really stupid stuff on the internet, but do you think anyone should see prison time for what they write online? The authorities could have investigated Reese Elliot to see if he truly was a threat or if he was doing something illegal or even just in need of psychological attention.

I know I can be caught in the wrong mood, or I sometimes post stuff when I just wake up and regret that post later. But to be sent to prison for it? I dunno.

reply to post by jiggerj


This is a conundrum for me. I've always been aware that what you say online, hell, even going back to the old BBS days, could be used to prosecute you so you don't get to say any old thing online and go "Aww but it was just little ol' me on the tweeties, guys!".

It's almost as if kids today are born into this world without any ability to think, and expect that all of this electrickery before them is normal magicks - like the sun rising and setting - and they expect it to be just as it is, was and has ever been, a world without repercussions coz you're on the mobile at the bus stop, amen.. but when it comes to bight them in the bum they're all "But mummy, I only said I would blow up pinks concert because she has a song I like, wah wah I didn't mean I was going to 'splode a real bomb, in an arena, with thousands of teenyboppers and where panic could set in and create havoc in a split second! Tell the nasty po po to stop hurting my sad face sad face!"

So I see stupidity being punished... but at the same time when I was a kid of 9 or 10 and had the bbs's in my bedroom where dirty sleazy sysops would give you sneaky access to their pron as long as you didn't tell anyone, I know I'd have gone to jail had times been different... Oh who the hell was that kid.. he's lucky to be alive. Oo

What sort of complete imbecile makes public threats and expects to wake up tomorrow and simply clear his internet browser and have the world forget it all?

The 16 year old here in Aus who tweeted he was going to blow up a pink concert was on the news all "I'm nine and what is this?" so it either shows that the parents of these next-gen adults are inept and need to be sent back to "Cross Your Leg" class and stop having retarded children, or that we're simply inevitably doomed to a future of mindless, brain dead louts who don't know that if you're intent on shouting threats out of your "Windows" then you better make sure you intend on having the law front at your doorstep to have a word.

Maybe create a new set of laws.. Internet Stupid laws. Criminals found guilty of committing a crime against common sense get sent to Myspace for a month, and have to listen to Fishheads for the entire time, whilst looking at this.



I dunno, but putting the idiots in jail with criminals and rapists - only this world could consider that logically the answer.

They way i see it, posting online is the same as going off on people in person.

You can insult people all day long and you are for the most part covered by your rights (within reason). The moment you cross the line into making death threats, hell yes i think you should be held accountable and face punishment. You can't say you are going to shoot people in public without repercussion, so you shouldn't be able to do it online either.

2+ years does seem a bit extreme if there is no reason to believe this person is going to follow through with these threats though. He made the treats to people in the US, yet he lives overseas. If there is evidence that he actually planned to follow through, then sure, that seems about right.

If, on the other hand there is no reason to believe he was doing anything other than talking crap then 2+ years is a bit much and a good solid slap on the wrist should have been enough.

To be honest though, this case has made a great example of "trolls" and sends a clear message to all the others out there who might do the same, its just a shame this person had to take the brunt of it.

I will be keeping a link to this case on hand the next time i run in to an out of control "troll", just to remind them what could happen if they don't chill out.

DC

only 2 1/2 years?......he got off easy....... try writing someone a death threat, or many of them, in a newspaper, it wouldn't be published, of course, but it would be construed as planning a murder. if it was against a politician, your looking at 5 years, your house being torn apart , and your personal life ruined.

Maybe some IP generated automatic " time outs "

Or internetz " smacks " first. Jail - straight up is wrong.
( the buggers do need their botties smacked though ! )

Yes, and then people will rave when a person is not imprisoned because he/she said it was only a joke, and then went to kill a bunch of kids.

If you cannot live your life without doing stupid things, then you will most likely be victim of "stupid" things.
Stop it, or go to jail. Doesn't matter to me what you choose.

These people are retarded half-wits that in all probability have mental health issues!

They don't deserve prison sentences, they should just be ignored or receive the psychiatric help they obviously require!

Then there is the issue with freedom of speech!

From the other side of the fence, the stupid little keyboard warrior is about to get the shock of a life time! LoL

However why should it be at the expense of the British taxpayer, ME!!!!

This is a great example of something I was having a conversation about the other day....this just happens to be on one extreme.

This is about free speech and thought...

This person was obviously an idiot. I fully support free speech but this could be viewed as terroristic threatening and this kind of talk I personally believe, crosses a line. If your words cause real "fear" then you have stepped outside the shield of protection. (Though this did not happen here)

That being said, when someone spews racism or sexism...I just tune them out. In my minds eye...those are personal "opinions" and a person has a right to have them and a right to speak them.

I am SO tired of political correctness.

We see it all around us, all the time...for one stupid reason or another. Most of the time...it's so some wimp doesn't get their "wittle feelwings hurt"...but sometimes your freedom of speech is imposed upon just so some major D-bag can make a buck...

I find it amazing that even on television...you can track the ratings of some stations by how free their speech and content is. Ever wonder why shows like "Deadwood", "The Sopranos", "Game of Thrones" do so well? Because they have not been censored to death by the thought and speech police.

Oh well....that is a rant...I guess best kept for another time. Suffice to say...the "Kings of speech and thought control" can only play that game when you let them...stop supporting their tyranny and they will have to lighten up...or lose.

The idiot posting crap and threatening people on Facebook or anywhere else should get some time to think about the fact that it is not ok to frighten and scare people. It's one thing to have a very ugly opinion on something...it is another thing to threaten someone.

reply to post by jiggerj


If the person seems a likely threat then be all means use the words against them if they are just being an idiot then jail time is probably a little harsh. Now how to tell...


Btw this seems the most coherent question I've seen you ask here what's up with that

The U.K trolls the hell out of Americans i think its more to do with that than murder threats the FBI a few years ago contacted Scotland yard and had the police go around to a kids house and give him a warning and a notice he has been banned from ever entering the united states all becouse he written a letter to the white house about 9/11 and called Obama a prick in it and there is other cases of people getting knocks on the door from the internet police first time i have seen someone go down for it though unlucky the poor kid got made an example out of.

reply to post by jiggerj


This is a difficult one. But I think in this case it is justified. I mean, these were some pretty sickening things he was posting, not just about the threat of violence but directly attacking people on a memorial page.

Threats of violence should always be treated as genuine, whether the writer of them is next door or thousands of miles away.

Freedom of opinion is one thing, threatening to murder children is a completely different thing. When it comes to the point of actually threatening physical harm, that's when the defense of "freedom or expression" is null and void, in my opinion.

Originally posted by winofiend
Maybe create a new set of laws.. Internet Stupid laws.

I would support the idea that repeat offenders should have a block in place to keep them off of the internet entirely, for a period of ten years or something.

I think - and this is just my train of thought leaving the station - I would support a prison term against trolls for threats to kill or maim, and a warning for other instances of harassment or indecency (such as posting offensive comments on a memorial page etc) and then a ten year ban on internet use for a repeat offender.

I think it's clear that something does need to be done. Sites themselves are not investing enough into management of trolls, and I think if they actually added report buttons in the same way they do for spam, it might clear up the problem without having new physical laws in place.

There's no doubt that when it comes to this problem, there is a problem. I would be inclined to force the companies to do something about improving the reporting and analysis of users, and banning them by IP for consistent and repeat offenders.

If a kid at an after school club was walking around attacking and insulting others they would be ejected, I think it's time there were restrictions on kids on the internet in exactly the same way.

Originally posted by iforget
reply to post by jiggerj

 

If the person seems a likely threat then be all means use the words against them if they are just being an idiot then jail time is probably a little harsh. Now how to tell...


Btw this seems the most coherent question I've seen you ask here what's up with that

edit on 7/13/2013 by iforget because: (no reason given)

Could be that you're growing up. lol All of my posts are coherent and cemented in logic.

Originally posted by Rocker2013
reply to post by jiggerj

 

This is a difficult one. But I think in this case it is justified. I mean, these were some pretty sickening things he was posting, not just about the threat of violence but directly attacking people on a memorial page.

Threats of violence should always be treated as genuine, whether the writer of them is next door or thousands of miles away.

Freedom of opinion is one thing, threatening to murder children is a completely different thing. When it comes to the point of actually threatening physical harm, that's when the defense of "freedom or expression" is null and void, in my opinion.

When did we lose the idea that it's one thing to say something and quite another to do it? I've made no effort to hide the fact that I want North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un, dead. And that we ought to wipe out the entire Middle East. In no way does this mean that I would actually do these things. These are just thoughts put into words, so for me to be arrested it would be a 'thought crime'. Have we really sunk that far?

Even if this demented troll fellow lived in Tennessee I would take issue with him being arrested for spilling what's in his head, but to actually live in another country and say it? Just seems too extreme.

They say that the first amendment does not give you the right to scream 'fire' in a crowded theater or 'he's got a bomb' in an airport, which is understandable because it can very well incite a panic. Threatening the president or people close to you specifically is also understandable.

But, think of that kid who just got released, Justin Carter. He was talking trash to some other kid on the internet over some stupid online game and spent a couple months in solitary and finally gets out a couple days before he's due back in court on a $500,000 bond?!! That is insanity. Just think how far they can push this if they can make the charges stick. It isn't really denying free speech, but it's herding people into a zone where they become afraid of what they post. Effectively censorship on the sly.

If people are already so thin skinned that the boogieman in the interwebz is secretly stalking them they should do like Jay and Silent Bob

When a pattern of abuse has been established, then do the police work and charge people for harassment. They have every tool to prove every online activity already, don't they?

A troll is a troll. I'm pretty sure the authorities have bigger fish to fry than to waste time on this petty bs. Making examples out of people doesn't really work.

In the UK's Reece Elliot case, I agree with the sentence wholeheartedly. The UK doesn't have the same sort of 'free speech' protection that America does, and even in America saying that sort of crap is going to get you in oodles of doo-doo. It's simply unacceptable - the immature man-children who would post that sort of thing on the tribute page for a dead child deserves the worst the law can throw at him, and maybe then some. Such a disposable human being.

Now, on the other side of that same coin, we have the young make in Texas who, while having an argument with a gaming friend of his, said something totally out of line, but in a clearly joking manner. It was in poor taste, but there was no specific threat to anybody and the kid was clearly joking. Now the young man is languishing in prison, on suicide watch, for months on end, facing many more years hard time should he be convicted. IMO, that's a terrible miscarriage of justice... but it's Texas, afterall, and it seems that miscarriages of justice is their bread and butter.

ETA: I just read in a post above mine that the young Texan I mentioned, has been released on bond pending his trial. That's good news, but frankly if the legal system had a brain he never would have set food in a prison cell in the first place. I sincerely hope that his trial goes well and he can walk out of the courthouse a free man after having suffered so long unjustly.

I agree that he should have been thoroughly investigated, then when it was found he didn't really pose a threat, I don't think he should have gone to prison. HOWEVER, he should be punished for posting a deliberate threat of murder. Internet ban sounds good, but is that really enforceable? Couldn't a savvy geek find a way around that? I say we fine the heck out of him - like a $250,000 fine. Garnish his wages to take it over time if he can't pay it all at once. And if he was a minor - fine the parents the same amount. It makes money for the state, and all us tax-payers don't have to pay for his prison expenses.

reply to post by andy06shake


You realize that you're not the only one, right? And honestly, the vast majority of people who deal with mental health issues can lead perfectly normal lives without hurting or threatening anybody. Stop perpetuating the stigma against people who can't help having an illness they were born with.

By the way, the British Royals live their lives of opulence on the taxpayer dime, too. Imo if you're John Q Taxpayer manufactured anger were directed at anybody, it should be them. What makes them exempt? Because they're your social betters?

reply to post by Monger


"Stop perpetuating the stigma against people who can't help having an illness they were born with."

How am I perpetuating a stigma against people with mental illness by suggesting they should be given psychiatric help instead of imprisonment?

You have obviously taken what i have said in the wrong context, ether that or you are just looking for an argument.

I can do it to, stop trying to tell people what to do! LoL

I don't think i should be contributing/paying for idiots to be imprisoned when they should be either ignored or given the proper help they obviously require!

Originally posted by jiggerj

People can say some really stupid stuff on the internet, but do you think anyone should see prison time for what they write online?

YES.
2nd.

ETA:
Do you know what is the most popular social networking site?
It´s the bottomless pit of human depravity.
As far as i´m concerned, some people should be jailed just for existing.

Rant over.