Online harassment
Whereas content may be offensive in a non-specific way, harassment directs
obscenities and derogatory comments at specific individuals focusing for example on
gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation.
There are instances where committing a crime using a computer can lead to an
enhanced sentence. For example, in the case of United States v. Neil Scott Kramer, the
defendant was given an enhanced sentence according to the U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines Manual §2G1.3(b)(3) for his use of a cell phone to "persuade, induce, entice,
coerce, or facilitate the travel of, the minor to engage in prohibited sexual conduct."
Kramer appealed the sentence on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to
convict him under this statute because his charge included persuading through a
computer device and his cellular phone technically is not a computer. Although Kramer
tried to argue this point, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual states that the term
'computer' "means an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other high-speed
data processing device performing logical, arithmetic, or storage functions, and includes
any data storage facility or communications facility directly related to or operating in
conjunction with such device."
In the United States alone, Missouri and over 40 other states have passed laws and
regulations that regard extreme online harassment as a criminal act. These acts can be
punished on a federal scale, such as US Code 18 Section 2261A, which states that
using computers to threaten or harass can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years,
depending on the action taken.[32]
Several countries outside of the United States have also created laws to combat online
harassment. In China, a country that supports over 20 percent of the world's internet
users, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council passed a strict law against the
bullying of young people through a bill in response to the Human Flesh Search Engine.
[33][34]
The United Kingdom passed the Malicious Communications Act, among other acts
from 1997 to 2013, which stated that sending messages or letters electronically that the
government deemed "indecent or grossly offensive" and/or language intended to cause
"distress and anxiety" can lead to a prison sentence of six months and a potentially
large fine.[35][36] Australia, while not directly addressing the issue of harassment, has
grouped the majority of online harassment under the Criminal Code Act of 1995. Using
telecommunication to send threats or harass and cause offense was a direct violation of
this act. [37]
Although freedom of speech is protected by law in most democratic societies (in
the US this is done by the First Amendment), it does not include all types of speech. In
fact, spoken or written "true threat" speech/text is criminalized because of "intent to
harm or intimidate." That also applies for online or any type of network-related threats in
written text or speech.
Drug trafficking[edit]
Darknet markets are used to buy and sell recreational drugs online. Some drug
traffickers use encrypted messaging tools to communicate with drug mules. The dark
web site Silk Road was a major online marketplace for drugs before it was shut down by
law enforcement (then reopened under new management, and then shut down by law
enforcement again). After Silk Road2.0 went down, Silk Road 3 Reloaded emerged.
However, it was just an older marketplace named Diabolus Market, that used the name
for more exposure from the brand's previous success.[38]
