Flaming (Internet) - Legal Implications

Legal Implications

Flaming varies in severity and as such so too does the reaction of states in imposing any sort of sanction. Various internet laws generally regard any message or post that threatens, harasses, or degrades another user as cyber harassment and as such can be considered criminal in some jurisdictions. However, this is often not taken seriously by local law enforcement who are under budgeted and over worked to consider a few harsh words seriously, even if they are a threat. While "flame wars" are not illegal, so long as they remain ad hominem, threats and insults said within them may break cyber laws. Laws vary from country to country, but in most cases, constant flaming can be considered cyber harassment, which can result in Internet Service Provider action to prevent access to the site being flamed. However, as social networks become more and more closely connected to people and their real life, the more harsh words may be consider defamation of the person. It is one thing to attack an anonymous self selected user name and another to attack a person using their real name.