Trolls on the internet, who bait and verbally abuse other online users, will feel the full force of the law if reforms to British libel laws are passed.<\/p>\n
The UK House of Commons is debating reforms that will provide incentives for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to reveal identities of online posters accused of \u201clibellous and defamatory speech\u201d according to a report by The Guardian.<\/p>\n
The onus however falls on the plaintiff to prove that the online troll caused them to suffer serious harm to their reputation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the law stands, individuals can be the subject of scurrilous rumour and allegation on the web with little meaningful remedy against the person responsible,\u201d said U.K. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWebsite operators are in principle liable as publishers for everything that appears on their sites, even though the content is often determined by users. But most operators are not in a position to know whether the material posted is defamatory or not and very often \u2013 faced with a complaint \u2013 they will immediately remove material. Our proposed approach will mean that website operators have a defence against libel as long as they comply with a procedure to help identify the authors of allegedly defamatory material,\u201d Clarke concluded.<\/p>\n