Victims of cyberbullying will soon be able to ask the Telecommunications Ombudsman’s Office for the identity of anonymous perpetrators, announced Rob Beenders, federal minister for Consumer Protection. However, experts question whether this is feasible in practice and are also concerned that people might take the law into their own hands.
Last year, the Telecommunications Ombudsman Service received thousands of complaints about online bullying - via social media such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Snapchat. These often involve serious offences such as death threats, intimidation or stalking, sometimes by anonymous perpetrators. If such offences are committed over the phone or via text messages, victims can already request information about the perpetrators from the Ombudsman using the telephone number. This legislation has not, until now, applied to online bullying.
Minister for Consumer Protection Rob Beenders is now amending the law, together with his colleague for Digitalisation, Vanessa Matz. The Ombudsman’s Office will soon be able to help find the identity and address of anonymous perpetrators on social media. Victims can then use this information to go to the police, take legal action or contact the perpetrator themselves. Operators and other relevant services will be obliged to cooperate with the investigation, otherwise they face a fine from the telecom regulator BIPT.
However, experts have their doubts about the measure. Bart Preneel, professor of computer security at KU Leuven, calls it “worrying” that so much responsibility is being placed on an ombudsman. “The ombudsman’s office has to assess whether something constitutes harassment or not, and that is no easy assessment. That’s actually the task of a police force,” he told Radio1. “Moreover, the ombudsman’s decision could have an impact on freedom of expression, and that is a fundamental right.”
Another major question is whether companies actually know their users' identities. IP addresses are rather easy to circumvent, for example via a VPN. And even if they do know the identity behind the hate messages, critics doubt whether social media companies would be willing to disclose it.
“The fact that there is a possibility of taking the law into one’s own hands strikes me as very worrying"
KU Leuven expert Bart Preneel also fears that the situation could get out of hand if victims contact the suspected perpetrator directly. “The fact that there is a possibility of taking the law into one’s own hands strikes me as very worrying. You simply don’t know what people intend to do with that information.”
According to Preneel, the issue of online harassment, bullying and threats must be resolved at the European level. “Because if every member state makes its own rules, it becomes more difficult for big tech, and they have more excuses for doing nothing,” he declared.
Illustration © PHOTO William WEST / AFP
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