Twitter trolls send online abuse soaring, police warn

AROUND 1,500 additional crimes linked to online abuse are being reported to Scotland Yard per year and the number looks set to rise, a senior police officer said today.
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Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey told members of the Greater London Assembly that the force has seen a rise in crimes linked to online harassment and bullying.

This follows a number of high profile cases of “Twitter trolling”, where users of the site are bombarded with threats and abuse.

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Mr Mackey said: “We’re seeing about 1,500 additional offences reported to us per year. I think it will rise as people become more aware of this.”

Investigators face difficulties including many social media companies being based in the US, where laws are different; the difficulty of providing legally robust evidence for court cases and trolls using false identities or software to cover their IP address, he said.

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