Woman launches legal action to identify Facebook trolls

Nicola Brookes, 45, is taking legal action to force Facebook to reveal details of who posted abuse and set up a fake profile in her name which was used to send explicit messages to underage girls.

She plans to then use the information to launch a private prosecution against the online bullies - also known as "trolls" - in what would be the first case of its type.

Ms Brookes, from Brighton, had looked at a Facebook page dedicated to Frankie Cocozza, a teenage singer in the X Factor reality television show, because her daughter enjoyed the programme, and when she saw that he was being subjected to abuse, wrote her own message saying: "Keep your chin up, Frankie, they'll move onto someone else soon."

Within hours, her message had prompted hundreds of abusive comments and death threats directed at her.

"Facebook users began deliberately targeting me, writing under my comment that I was a paedophile and hoping that I would die," Ms Brookes said.

Every time a comment was made she received an email alert informing her of the new message.

"I was getting hundreds of these alerts so I couldn't even ignore it or blank it out. It was like a form of torture," she told The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Brookes, who has been unwell with Crohn's disease, said the comments soon turned into something much more sinister.

"They started getting very personal, looking at my Facebook account, and talking about my appearance, my age and my illness. I hadn't invited any of it, but they ganged together and started inciting a sort of public hatred of me," she said.

A fake Facebook profile was set up in her name using her photo, and explicit messages were sent from the account to girls as young as nine.

She reported the offending posts and the fake account to Facebook then decided to go to the police with evidence of the abuse, but Sussex Police have yet to take action.

Now she has engaged lawyers who are bringing a High Court action against Facebook, ordering the American-based Internet firm to hand over details of the computer addressed where the offensive messages came from. The lawyers hope to use those to identify who wrote them, then bring a private prosecution against the offenders.

SOURCE: http://www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120513-0000073/Woman-launches-legal-action-to-identify-Facebook-trolls
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