Direct threats, especially hate speech, should not be protected speech. I think too many people, especially young people, see online abuse as a prank or harmless trolling. They don't understand that words, even on a screen, have enormous power to do harm.
Female, 42 USA
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People bullying online can hide and not be held accountable for their crimes. There is no excuse for abusing a fellow human being. It's about time we begin treating cyber abuse with the same level of seriousness as any physical abusive crime because it is actually a more long lasting, deeply detrimental and psychologically and emotionally damaging form of abuse.
Male, 41 USA
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To be abusive in the name of freedom of speech is an abuse in and of itself, of this important human right. Things spread so fast on the internet but just as with other media reporting there is always the danger of having a first impression set in our minds as the truth, even if the facts are faulty or deranged, and with the sheer numbers the internet reaches this phenomenon is highly volatile and, like a wildfire, it tends to be the "fire" (the attack) which gets out of hand. It is very important that we consider that the hungry readers (surfers) who are feeding the flame have very little SENSE of this story being about a very real individual. This is an aspect of the internet which should be faced, spoken about and dealt with, with great care and attention.
Female, 44 USA
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It is enough to use your right to speak, but to use your words to do someone harm is horrible. Lets stop cyber abuse, people need to smarten up and think before they act/speak.
Female, 41 Canada
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Freedom of expression has nothing to do with abuse. I can tell anything to anyone but from respect and education. Yes, I am convinced that the clause that appears in some places where it is said that the data are confidential are lying. Why then I get ads for sites that do not even know. I think the places we do sign this confidentiality is a mockery.
Female. 45 Spain
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Freedom of Speech comes with a responsibility. A person should not abuse his/her rights. It should be prevented much better than it is today. Children being online is a big responsibility - both for the child and the parents, and more should be done to help them and prevent/stop bullyingAny kind of bullying is bad. We all have the right to live in peace.
Female. 44 Ireland
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There's a weight, a burden to freedom of speech. It's not a free ticket. Freedom of speech is about responsibility. You can say what you want, but you are also responsible for what you say. Abusers hide behind anonymity because otherwise they have to take responsibility for their actions on others lives as well as their own. Anonymous abuse on the internet is almost a dual- faced sociopathy. In the real world, I can come across as a nice person; on the internet I anonymously abuse people for fun.
Female, 42 Australia
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Abuse online is worse than offline because it's generally anonymous without right to reply and a larger audience. Cyber abuse is sickening and spineless.
Female, 42 Australia
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People should always be able to express their opinions, but targeting individual people, or inciting hatred, is always to be condemned. The law needs to move faster, and lawmakers need to be better informed, in order to keep up with the pace of change. But a genuine conversation needs to be had about how much freedom we are willing to sacrifice in exchange for the perception of security.
Male, 44 UK
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Freedom of speech is integrity, respect and common decency. It is time for cyber abuse to stop and for those experiencing it to be able to have the support needed to be able to do something about it.
Female, 43 Australia
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Abusing someone is not OK. Verbal abuse is not free speech it's hate speech. It ruins principal of free speech. Website owners & their admin need to police cyber abuse better, take action & have better rules about abuse.
Female, 45 UK
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Abuse is abuse. Even when it's online it has real world implications. Abuse should be monitored, recorded, and reported. There should be a public repository for cyber abuse that's searchable and cross-referenced.
Female, 41 Canada
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Abuse is abuse. Even when it's online it has real world implications. Abuse should be monitored, recorded, and reported. There should be a public repository for cyber abuse that's searchable and cross-referenced.
Female, 41 Canada
41-50 YEAR OLDS VOICE
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
