Abstract
The rapid emergence of social media has significantly facilitated the contact and exchange of information between people. At the same time it has opened up avenues to new threats and offensive online behaviour. This chapter focuses on the legal aspects of offensive online communications including cyberbullying, revenge pornography and other related offences. These offences have spread considerably in the recent years, acquiring new dimensions and posing new challenges. It will be argued that the current legal framework in England and Wales is complex. The legislation dealing with offensive online communications and abuse is in need of clarification and simplification. This is a necessary step that must go hand in hand with reforms in the area of law enforcement and preventative measures aimed at raising public awareness and education.
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Notes
- 1.
Violence against women and girls.
- 2.
See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/14/revenge-porn-allegations-dropped-third-cases-campaigners-call/accessed 03/08/2018
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Sallavaci, O. (2018). Crime and Social Media: Legal Responses to Offensive Online Communications and Abuse. In: Jahankhani, H. (eds) Cyber Criminology. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97181-0_1
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