Drag them to jail
A leading Aussie cyber-safety campaigner wants the creators of hate pages dragged from their homes and locked up. Former top cop Susan McLean was commenting on Facebook's decision to close down a page mocking Jill Meagher, the 29-year-old Brunswick woman abducted and killed last month.
McLean, spent 27 years with Victoria Police before launching her cyber safety consultancy three years ago. She said that police have the ability to prosecute the creators of pages that are in breach of Australian laws but appear to be unwilling to use it.
The site claimed to be using “controversial humour" but in fact hosted deeply offensive material that supported rape and murder, she said.
McLean said that it was wrong to be upset at Facebook over the page. Instead what must happen is that the people posting this stuff are tracked down and charged, she said. Coppers already have powers to pursue posters of such content. Under section 474.17 of the Commonwealth Crimes Act, it is an offence to use "a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence", punishable by three years in jail.
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Nick Farrell
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