Bad behavior occurs all the time on the internet and can be from anyone and aimed at anyone. It can happen at any time and can be targeted or random. There are many different ways for someone to be affected by bad behavior on the internet, but one of the most common forms of online bad behavior would be online harassment. Harassment is caused by the use of information and communication by someone intended to cause harm to another person. In one specific case, harassment and threats led to legal action;
“In 2016, Andrew Anglin, publisher of the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer, called on his readers to engage in a “troll storm” against a Jewish woman in Montana named Tanya Gersh and her family. Confronted with a barrage of threats and hateful messages, she and her family fled their home. With the assistance of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Gersh filed suit against Anglin for “invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Montana Anti-Intimidation Act.” A federal magistrate judge ruled against Anglin in 2019 after he failed to appear in court, ordering him to pay over $14 million in damages to Gersh.
In the landmark case of Elonis v. United States, a man in the process of divorcing his wife posted seemingly threatening song lyrics on Facebook. Anthony Elonis included disclaimers that the violent lyrics were “fictitious” and “therapeutic.” Elonis was prosecuted under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 875(c)) which prohibits making threats over the internet. The Supreme Court ruled that this provision of federal law required that prosecutors allege and prove that the defendant had the “intent” to commit a crime. The court determined that it did not matter whether a reasonable person would have been threatened by the statement. What mattered is whether the actual defendant had the subjective intent to threaten. In effect, this decision significantly increased the difficulty of prosecuting the posting of threats on social media.”
In this case, Tanya Gersh and her family were played victims, coming from targeted online attacks led by Andrew Anglin. Due to this, Tanya and her family left their home in worry about the online threats that they received. This led to a lawsuit filed against Andrew for “invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Montana Anti-Intimidation Act.” This eventually led to the outcome of $14 million owed to Tanya and her family. The was a large financial loss for Andrew Anglin, as well as severe damage to his reputation and his career. The criminal in this case was indeed held accountable and was forced to pay the fine. From this, we can learn to think about our actions and their consequences. There should be zero threats and attacks whether that be personal or generalized. These comments can severely hurt other people and their careers, including your own. The message–think about your actions on the internet.