Cyberbullying and the criminal law

Sending grossly offensive emails, texts or tweets is a crime:

• it is a criminal offence under section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1998 to send an indecent, offensive or threatening letter, electronic communication or other article to another person;

• it is a criminal offence under section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 to send a text message that is indecent, grossly offensive or menacing or obscene; and

• it is a criminal offence under the Communications Act 2003 to send messages by means of a public electronic communications network (such as Twitter) that are grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.

Other relevant criminal laws include the PHA 97 (see page 32), the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

In 2014, a football supporter was jailed for six months after sending a threatening communication, aggravated by racial and religious prejudice. He sent abusive communications to Glasgow journalist Angela Haggerty and encouraged others to abuse her on Twitter.