Historian Mary Beard warns prison sentences are no deterrent to internet trolls
University of Cambridge historian Mary Beard, herself a victim of internet abuse, has warned that proposed new laws handing down two year prison sentences to abusers will fail to stem the tide of online bullying.
Beard’s intervention comes as justice secretary Chris Grayling prepares to bestow enhanced powers to judges in order to allow them to hand down tougher sentences to those convicted of utilising the internet to attack others.
Beard warns however that the new laws don’t take into account the scale of ongoing abuse, nor would it force police and prosecutors to take the crime more seriously.
David Green, the director of right of centre thinktank Civitas, told The Telegraph: “There is a danger that people who have just been vigorous in their criticism of someone could be caught up in it and it will infringe freedom of speech.
"Why do I think that? Because the police have already misapplied the power under the public order act to prosecute people for causing harassment, alarm or distress.”