England: Law Commission calls for law reform to deal with online abuse

Professor
David Ormerod QC

In its scoping report assessing the state of the law in this area, the commission raises concerns about the lack of coherence in the current criminal law and the problems this causes for victims, police and prosecutors. It is also critical of the current law’s ability to protect people harmed by a range of behaviour online.

The commission is calling for: reform and consolidation of existing criminal laws dealing with offensive and abusive communications online; a specific review considering how the law can more effectively protect victims who are subject to a campaign of online harassment; and a review of how effectively the criminal law protects personal privacy online.

Professor David Ormerod QC, law commissioner for criminal law, said: “As the internet and social media have become an everyday part of our lives, online abuse has become commonplace for many.

“Our report highlights the ways in which the criminal law is not keeping pace with these technological changes. We identify the areas of the criminal law most in need of reform in order to protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.”

Jess Phillips MP, chair, and Maria Miller MP, co-chair, of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse and Katie Ghose, chief executive of Women’s Aid, welcomed the report saying: “Online abuse has a devastating impact on survivors and makes them feel as though the abuse is inescapable. Online abuse does not happen in the ‘virtual world’ in isolation; 85 per cent of survivors surveyed by Women’s Aid experienced a pattern of online abuse together with offline abuse. Yet too often it is not taken as seriously as abuse ‘in the real world’.

“The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse has long called for legislation in this area to be reviewed to ensure that survivors are protected and perpetrators of online abuse held to account. We welcome the Law Commission’s report, which has found that gaps and inconsistencies in the law mean survivors are being failed. We support the call for further review and reform of the law.”