A Whangarei man bullied on Facebook has learned the hard way that our Harmful Digital Communications Bill does not guarantee cyber bullies will be investigated, let alone prosecuted. The bill has been passed but is yet to be enacted, giving police little legislative "teeth". The man endured a hate campaign on Facebook which included defamation, anti-Semitic remarks and obscenities. He was successful in having the page shut down, and presented police with hard copy screen shots of bullying evidence.
Without the power of the new law behind them, police say the page's demise was a factor in their decision not to investigate, along with the time and financial resources that would have been required to obtain search warrants through Facebook's US office. The case was also complicated because the Facebook page was linked to Australia. The fact a crime is perceived to be no longer happening doesn't mean it should be out of mind - historic offences would never be prosecuted if that was part of police legal dogma.
From the police perspective though, hard copy screen grabs are not strong evidence. They can easily be manipulated with a "free download" design programme. Proving the bullying would require the seizure of the device they originated from and internet technology forensics.
If we can seize the computer of someone who has downloaded objectionable pornographic material, perhaps it is time to start viewing cyber bullies with the same disgust we view child porn habitues.
People speak of victim-less crime. Cyber bullying is in danger of becoming an offender-less crime. Even when enacted, our HDCB is likely to be limited in its application, given bullying traverses the world at the push of a button. A general rule to follow is that we should not say anything on Facebook or in an email that we would not be prepared to say to someone in person.
