The Crocels Trolling Academy

Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems

The Institute of Life Sciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park,
Swansea, West Wales & The Valleys, SA2 8PP, Wales, GB.
Telephone: 01792 345105 Web: www.trollingacademy.org

18 November 2012
Geraint Davies MP
Member of Parliament for Swansea West
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear Geraint,
Re: The Human Rights Act 1998 and Internet trolling
I hope this letter finds you well. Im sure as a Labour MP youll agree with me, as a
former Labour Party member, that the Human Rights Act 1998 had the potential to
put the UK at the forefront of Human Rights implementation in the world. You will
recall the euphoria among the British public at the time, where everyone knew
their rights. This was short-lived however, and now the public see it with disdain
as a Criminals Charter. Im sure youll sympathise with their view and mine that it
has become unfit for purpose.
Despite there being a requirement for public authorities to abide by the provisions
of the European Convention on Human Rights, this is not happening. It seems that
the human rights of the law-abiding are secondary to the law-breaking and I
include public authorities as the law-breaking, in relation to not enforcing human
rights.
In the last year a number of human rights abuses, in my opinion, have occurred in
relation to Internet trolling:

Reece Messer was given a harassment warning simply for critiquing Tom
Daleys diving ability. This was an affront to free speech under Article 10
ECHR as explanation of his right to a fair public hearing under Article 6,
where he would likely have been acquitted if the law was applied fairly, did
not happen. Nor was he given the information that he had the right to
challenge this under Article 5.
Matthew Woods was sentenced to jail for posting an offensive joke on
Facebook, even though it wasnt grossly offensive under case law. Celebrities
like Frankie Boyle post offensive jokes on Twitter all the time and face no
criminal action. This is an affront to Woodss rights under Articles 10 and 6
ECHR.
Azhar Ahmed was convicted for simply saying all soldiers should die and go
to hell. This was an affront to his rights to free speech and to be against war
under Article 10 and 9 ECHR.

As I reported on the Crocels News, in the last few months South Wales Police have
raided the house of an equality activist simply for criticising the UK Government and
ATOS. Yet we see terrorists being given rights that society finds unfair, and other
rulings that unfairly put the lawless above the law-abiding.
I would like it if you could write to the appropriate Government Minister to request
that they take steps to symbolically repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and replace it
with their promised Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights would ratify the European
Convention on Human Rights in a different way one that puts the rights of the lawabiding above the rights of the law-breaking, including with relation to free speech.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, has said the actions of the police
for bringing cases against certain Internet trolls is having a chilling effect on free
speech. This proves that the Human Rights Act 1998 is not doing its job properly.
We only need look over the Atlantic at Canada, where human rights like free speech
are protected by a Human Rights Commission, which has teeth. A research
colleague, Ashu Solo, who is in Canada, is having the support of this body to take
action against a public authority which did not recognise his rights to freedom of
religion. This may be a consideration of a consultation on replacing the Human
Rights Act with a Bill of Rights, which I would like you to ask the government to take
forward as a priority.

With best regards,

Jonathan Bishop LLM FBCS CITP