Internet trolling has been around since the days of bulletin board systems and AOL chat rooms, and seems to fall into the realm of sport for some.
YouTube is a social website where the sport of trolling has thrived due to limited technical support, but some users are now striking back by filing lawsuits to have the identity of their harassers made public.
Just this week, a New York City Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Carla Franklin, an alleged victim who is a former actress and model. The court ordered Google to turn over any information they have for those who made offensive comments about her, with a mere 15 day deadline.
The paperwork for that case states that the comments, some of which referred to Franklin as a whore, “were made with the intention to harm Ms. Franklin’s reputation and interfere with her relationships, employment and livelihood.” The filing is being made on the grounds of “personal humiliation, mental anguish and damage to her reputation.”
Another YouTube “victim”, Toronto police officer Adam Josephs, has launched a $1.2 million defamation lawsuit against the site and has requested that they reveal the identities of those who made videos spoofing him. The videos were cartoons that showed a caricature of Josephs arresting and beating up various figures like Obama and Santa Clause, and were created after a video showing the officer threatening to arrest a bubble-blowing G20 protester for assault went viral.
“This level of ridicule goes beyond what is reasonable,” Joseph’s lawyer, James Zibarras, said. “The reason we brought the lawsuit is that people have the right to protect themselves against this kind of harassment.”
It’s unclear as to exactly how much information, other than IP addresses, Google will be able to provide to the court. If, however, the court is able to somehow make a positive ID of those involved in these cases, the individuals will then be personally named in the defamation suits. A judgment awarding monetary reparations to the victims could spawn several more lawsuits to follow.
Such a ruling would likely also mean that more websites will begin disabling comments completely to avoid possible court complications in such cases.
I’ve always taken anonymous internet trolls to just be part of the internet culture and viewed them as something that shouldn’t be taken seriously. I guess I might feel differently if I was called names after being featured in a viral YouTube video, but I don’t know that I’d be upset enough to contact a lawyer.
What’s your take? Defamation or harmless internet fun?
