On Tuesday, I wrote a short blog about Sadiq Khan’s threats to crack down on Uber. For the rest of the day, my Twitter timeline was filled by obloquy from made-up accounts from black cab drivers. No more than a dozen of them, but using similar themes: showing pictures of immigrant Uber drivers, claiming that they went on bizarre routes to rip off passengers, or that they rape their passengers. I have no doubt that most of their graphics were fake (like the ones showing an Uber surge 33 times basic fare) but it was a glimpse into how the internet can be used by people hiding behind made-up names to slur. In this case: a company. In other cases: real people.
The Crown Prosecution Service today asks: should this sort of thing be illegal? Should adults be charged with a criminal offence if they use fake Twitter or social media IDs to harass others? The CPS thinks so, and has today said it is amending its guidelines accordingly.
To me, this is a bit worrying: the digital era should not be used an excuse to erode free speech protection – the right to insult and be vulgar has always been protected in Britain. Also,
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