Women, particularly women who have a public persona online because they are a blogger or journalist, are finding that online harassment – including threats of rape and murder - just comes with the job. Unfortunately, the police are rarely able to do much about it or even take the threat seriously. Some argue that the hostile reception women receive online is much the same as sexual harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, though, the courts are more likely to hold that some online harassment is constitutionally protected speech. And Congress, for good reasons, has exempted intermediaries such as Twitter from liability for the vile comments of their users.
So, where does that leave the question of online harassment? It will be interesting to see if there is any muscle behind the new laws in California that make "immediate and specific” threats of violence illegal. Until someone prosecutes those who make threats online, it is likely that this kind of commonplace harassment is going to remain “normal.” In the meantime, though, this is a good topic to discuss with any young female blogger or potential bloggers, since this kind of harassment seems par for the course.
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