[whatshisface]

The problem with what you're saying is that incivility does not directly cause death. I could not actually kill you by writing a lot of really clever insults, not even if they were worthy of Guybrush Threepwood. The deaths "caused" by insults are in fact mediated through rare mental illnesses, and that calls in to question the issue of responsibility. If you bumped into me on the sidewalk and, because a rare illness made me extremely sensitive to impacts, I died, a court would not hold you responsibly like they would me if I hit you with a car. The degree to which the effect of the cause is typical matters a lot in designing legislation or making fair decisions that apply equally to everyone.

[comrh]

That really undersells how horrible targeted harassment of a person and everyone that person knows can be.

> The degree to which the effect of the cause is typical matters a lot in designing legislation or making fair decisions that apply equally to everyone.

I think this was added after I replied. I would certainly agree this legislation is overly broad and probably not helpful. At first I thought you were arguing cyberbullying could only be a matter of life and death if you had a "mental disorder".

[whatshisface]

Targeted harassment is beyond the ken of this discussion, which is about laws regulating all speech uniformly, that do not distinguish between yelling at someone's house from the street every night, and saying something to nobody in particular on Twitter.

[wowokay]

How? An individual can block numbers, block or deactivate social media, if those dont work law enforcement of civil litigation are likely available options.

I actively practice antisocial online behaviors. I disable game chats and rarely use voice, I block or purge things in my news feed that I don't like and at the end of the day my preferences dont impact other peoples' online lives.

[makeitdouble]

How would it be different if you purposefully tried every possible insult until the “right” one hits and has the other side die ? Or flooded the person by every means you can think of until it exceeds their capacity to ignore your insults ?

There is an intentionality that you are not addressing, and is at the core of this law.

[whatshisface]

Is there any combination of words I could write to you that would kill you? That, to me, sounds like something from an SCP story, not the real world. Are you really suggesting that everyone has a secret password that will make them commit suicide?

[makeitdouble]

I think that fundamentally yes, you could.

I see myself as a relatively stable person, but there will be topics and angles that touch me more than others. Someone digging through my post history should be enough to come with a general life profile and reasonable attack vectors.

We can keep a thick skin against attacks that are vague and/or indiscriminate, but it becomes harder when it’s more focused and resonates with thoughts we already have. You are right that one or two comments might not be much, but bullying isn’t about one-off acts, and any button that yielded a different reaction will be pushed again and again…

So yes, it’s not a fully random process to look for that “secret password”, the victim is online with an identity, and it comes down to how much effort is invested in trying to hurt them. Even worse when it’s a semi-public figure, or someone that exposed part of their everyday life.

Doing it enough times/for long enough, and there will be some chance to hit the victim during a vulnerable period (professional issues, friend/couple issues etc.). If they lose their place in society (lose their job, or are ostracized in their irl community), effects will compound.