SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
There are all sorts of different ways that websites that allow comments have dealt with trollish behavior over the years, but I think the BBC's new policy is the first I've seen in which the organization threatens that it may contact your boss or your school (found via Frank Fisher).
The new policy has a short section on "offensive or inappropriate content on BBC websites" where it says the following:
Offensive or inappropriate content on BBC websites
If you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content anywhere on or to BBC websites or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on any BBC service, the BBC may use your personal information to stop such behaviour.
Where the BBC reasonably believes that you are or may be in breach of any applicable laws (e.g. because content you have posted may be defamatory), the BBC may use your personal information to inform relevant third parties such as your employer, school email/internet provider or law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.
To be fair, it does seem to limit this to cases where it believes you've violated the law, but even so, it seems like a stretch to argue that the BBC should be calling your boss to tell on you for being a [troll], even if you break the law.
Source: TechDirt
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @05:11AM
doing something illegal
Trolling is not illegal, and non-trolling classified as trolling for political means is not illegal either.
If someone is doing something illegal, they should be contacting the legal authorities, but they wouldn't do that because they don't have a leg to stand on.
And why shouldn't they?
Because no due process was involved. The BBC has no authority to decide what is illegal and what isn't.
If you're using an employer's email, a university's email, or an internet provider's services to do something illegal, there's at least a theoretical possibility that those hosts could be held partly liable for your illegal acts.
No, there isn't. Entities in the UK are not liable for actions conducted using services rented over which they have no oversight. The providers will be no more liable than a car lease company would be liable for their car was used in a crime.
As other posts have said already -- only an idiot would be using a real name/email address that easily is tracked back to them to do something questionably legal online. But if you are, well, I'd say BBC has every right to let involved parties know.
One could say they were "asking for it".