Sorry I did not see this comment earlier, but that's really no different than the issue we already face with death threats, and we are able to distinguish between threats that are actually serious and ones that are rhetorical. This is why the government doesn't prosecute you if you angrily yell "I'm gonna kill that bastard" after someone insults you.
But where the context of the threat is such that it is likely to be believed and would instill fear in a reasonable person, we can prosecute it. And people can stay on the other side of that line- we all know we might be able to say "I'm gonna kill that bastard" after the insult, but we can't leave a note on someone's door saying "that's a nice family you have, shame if something happened to it".
Probably not. And indeed, I bet the death threats-to-violent crime ratio is very low.
But a couple of points:
1. Serious death threats (again, the brick through the window, not the rhetorical "I'm gonna kill him!") are very harmful even if they don't result in a violent action. They scare people. People have to relocate or hire security. They can suffer severe emotional distress. It can chill their speech rights.
2. Even if it is a small percentage, we still might be saving some lives by taking death threats more seriously.
>Even if it is a small percentage, we still might be saving some lives by taking death threats more seriously.
This is where the argument falls apart from me, because there are indeed a lot of steps you could take far smaller than increasing the workload of the police manifold, that would save a lot more lives. I will not enumerate them, I am confident that you are creative enough to think of them for yourself.
You are making the statement that people take internet death threats seriously at all without any evidence. If I received a death threat tomorrow I would probably block the person and move on, honestly.
How can you prove intent over the internet? Since tone of comment cannot be gleaned from the text, how do you propose to apply the law?
If I am halfway around the globe from a person and I threaten to kill them over the internet, can it be reasonably said that I have an intent to kill?
Sorry I did not see this comment earlier, but that's really no different than the issue we already face with death threats, and we are able to distinguish between threats that are actually serious and ones that are rhetorical. This is why the government doesn't prosecute you if you angrily yell "I'm gonna kill that bastard" after someone insults you.
But where the context of the threat is such that it is likely to be believed and would instill fear in a reasonable person, we can prosecute it. And people can stay on the other side of that line- we all know we might be able to say "I'm gonna kill that bastard" after the insult, but we can't leave a note on someone's door saying "that's a nice family you have, shame if something happened to it".
Is there any statistical study correlating online death threats with subsequent murder of a person? Would be interesting to see..
Probably not. And indeed, I bet the death threats-to-violent crime ratio is very low.
But a couple of points:
1. Serious death threats (again, the brick through the window, not the rhetorical "I'm gonna kill him!") are very harmful even if they don't result in a violent action. They scare people. People have to relocate or hire security. They can suffer severe emotional distress. It can chill their speech rights.
2. Even if it is a small percentage, we still might be saving some lives by taking death threats more seriously.
>Even if it is a small percentage, we still might be saving some lives by taking death threats more seriously.
This is where the argument falls apart from me, because there are indeed a lot of steps you could take far smaller than increasing the workload of the police manifold, that would save a lot more lives. I will not enumerate them, I am confident that you are creative enough to think of them for yourself.
Also, re: 1
You are making the statement that people take internet death threats seriously at all without any evidence. If I received a death threat tomorrow I would probably block the person and move on, honestly.