Jonathan Bishop, who has been involved in multimedia studies since the 1990s, gaining a degree in the subject in 2002, said he predicted that politicians would be jumping on the child protection bandwagon this summer as early as February.

Speaking to the Ignite Cardiff event, in February, Bishop claimed that the media following a ‘cycle of juvenile justice’ where they first condemn young people and then claim to support them. “We have had trolling, where teens of been targeted and now the media are starting to ‘worry ‘about them,” he told a packed audience in Cardiff. “So in the next year we will be hearing about Internet grooming and child abuse more, because the media go from one extreme to the other.”

Bishop was right and today it has been announced by David Cameron that he will hold a ‘web porn summit’ with Internet firms at Downing Street. Bishop said that child murder Mark Bridger is simply a perverse sacrificial lamb of convenience and that another scapegoat would have been found if his murder of April Jones was not as high profile. “Anyone in the area of cyberlaw will tell you that each day of each year mountains of news papers carried stories of child abuse tragedies,” he said. “For whatever reason that even experts like myself don’t understand, only explain, the media and politicians appear to almost automatically go through a cycle of condemning young people and then showing a false concern for them .
“Once the moral panic they create has run its course they then move onto new one seemingly to keep the public pacified.”

Bishop’s conclusion of this “cycle of juvenile justice” comes out of a paper he has had accepted for publication in the International Journal of Web Based Communities, due to be published this year, which is titled, “The Art of Trolling: Transgressive Representations of Internet Trollers by Mass Media Organisations in Meta-Communicative Contexts.“

Phillips says that existing advice on Internet trolling is inadequate. “Initially, ‘Don’t feed the trolls’ seems like a perfectly reasonable response to nasty online behavior,” she said. “Despite its cursory appeal, however, the command raises more issues than it solves—and not just because it brings us right back to the problem of definitions.”

This supports the view of Bishop in his research paper, “Increasing Capital Revenue in Social Networking Communities: Building Social and Economic Relationships through Avatars and Characters,” which is published in his edited book on Internet trolling, called: “Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of Internet Trolling.” In this chapter Bishop introduces the concept of ‘E-Vengers,’ which are a group of Internet users to will cause havoc if they are ignored or marginalised, and for whom whether to ignore, delete or include them is a make or break scenario.

Bishop and Phillips disagree as to how to respond to this type of user. According to Phillips instead of ignoring the users they contributions should be deleted. “Instead of agreeing not to feed the trolls, thereby accepting the terms of the antagonist’s game, the target should be encouraged to respond with his or her own game—a game called Ruining This Asshole’s Day,” she said. “The first and most basic way to play Ruin This Asshole’s Day is to shut them down, ideally by unceremoniously deleting their comments.”

Bishop thinks that Phillips has it wrong and that this may make things worse. “While it is possible to sign up to a website with a fake identity it will always be possible for users who have been in their mind ‘wronged’ to come back and cause problems in those communities which margalised them,” he said. “Rather than censorship, the better option to deal with people at risk of becoming E-Vengers is to let them know their views have been heard and not to cause a flame war where they might be banned and then as a result want to get revenge.
“An online community often have little resources in terms of moderation, so to put the onus on them to delete content could prove impossible in heated debates.“

Helen Lewis had been writing about Internet trolling and online abuse for 18 months. Despite being a novice, Helen Lewis took guests through  the scope of the problem, what motivates so-called trolls, the challenges they present for news websites and forums, and what can be done to tackle them.

Internet trolling expert Jonathan Bishop, who has been writing about and researching Internet trolling since 2006 welcomes Helen Lewis into the fold. “It is important to understand how issues such as sexism manifest online,” he said. “My research on Internet trolling has found one’s sex can be important online as it is women who are mostly likely to be defriended online and most likely to be doing the defriending.”

Bishop is the editor of the book, “Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of Internet Trolling,” which contains book chapters authored by him with the titles, “The Psychology of Trolling and Lurking: The Role of Defriending and Gamification for Increasing Participation in Online Communities Using Seductive Narratives” and “Increasing Capital Revenue in Social Networking Communities: Building Social and Economic Relationships through Avatars and Characters,” which look at the issues raised by Helen Lewis in Parliament today.

Steve Rotheram, who is the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton, asked the Secretary of State for Defence, Mark Francois; “what steps he plans to take against any individual serving in the armed forces found to have been engaged in internet trolling.”

Francois made a clear response to Rotheram. “Internet trolling could involve online humiliation, intimidation, bullying or abuse of individuals or groups of people. Such behaviour is not tolerated in the armed forces and all reported incidents are thoroughly investigated,” he said. “Where evidence is found, appropriate administrative or disciplinary action is taken.”

INDUSTRY EXPERT: Jonathan Bishop is the editor of the edited volume on Internet trolling. His book, “Examining the Concepts Issues and Implications of Internet trolling,” is published by IGI Global. Courtesy: Steve Powderhill Photography

Rotheram is due to hold a debate in Parliament next week entitled, “Does Punishment of Trolls Infringe on Freedom of Speech?” One person not invited to the event is Internet trolling expert Jonathan Bishop, who has made his differences of opinion with Rotheram clear. “Steve Rotheram appears to be grandstanding on the issue of Internet trolling when the laws are in place to deal with the problem,” he said. “One of Steve Rotheram’s constituents, Georgia Varley had her memorial page abused by R.I.P Trollers in 2011, and since Mr Rotheram has been campaigning for more trolling legislation.
“This is despite Ministers like Jeremy Browne telling him the laws are strong enough.
“Despite me explaining to Mr Rotheram what trolling legislation is available, he has in my view forcibly denied Georgia Varley’s family the same justice that Natasha MacBryde’s family had when her troll, Sean Duffy, was sent to prison for trolling her memorial page.
“Like Georgia, MacBryde was a teenager that died in a railway accident before continuing to be abused after her death.
There is no logical reason for Georgia’s family to be denied justice because, it seems, Mr Rotheram has something to gain from his apparent conceit that the trolling laws aren’t strong enough”

Gavin Callaghan is a personal assistant to Steve Rotheram said Bishop, who is the most published academic in the world on Internet trolling, and editor of the book, “Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of Internet trolling,” was not invited to the debate. Callaghan made excuses why an invitation had not been extended to Bishop, whom he knows has differences of opinion with Rotheram. “Mr Rotheram has led a number of parliamentary debates over the past 18 months on the issue of trolling and he is keen to hear from industry experts, academics, police officers, barristers, ministers and victims,” he said. “Consequently it would not be appropriate for (Bishop) to be at the meeting.
“We have a very strong panel with mixed views and (Bishop is) not invited.“

Jonathan Bishop is the editor of the IGI Global book, “Examining the Concepts Issues and Implications of Internet trolling.” Courtesy: Steve Powderhill Photography

Jonathan Bishop has differences of opinion on policy matters relating to Internet trolling with Steve Rotheram MP who is hosting the event. He was told by Councillor Gavin Callaghan, who is a researcher for Rotheram that he could not attend. “Mr Rotheram has led a number of parliamentary debates over the past 18 months on the issue of trolling and he is keen to hear from industry experts, academics, police officers, barristers, ministers and victims,” Cllr Callaghan said. “Consequently it would not be appropriate for you to be at the meeting.”

Bishop said the lack of an invite was not unexpected. “Mr Rotheram and Cllr Callaghan take a very difference approach to Internet trolling and have very different policies on that matter,” he said. “As a true democrat I try to ensure all opinions are heard, even, or maybe especially the ones that are contrary to my own.
“I do not see what Mr Rotheram hopes to gain from this meeting, other than publicity for his anti-trolling cause, if the only people he is inviting to the meeting are those who agree with his point of view.”

Cllr Callaghan defended the snub. “There are a number of experts at next weeks event who disagree with Steve,” he said. “I do not need to justify our decisions.
“We are very happy with broad range of views represented next week.“

The man has been arrested following allegations he made death threats against Yaqoob, after she appeared on BBC Question Time. It has also been revealed that Yaqoob shared the threats on Twitter.

Jonathan Bishop is an Internet trolling expert. “This is not as simple a case as it will probably end up being in the criminal courts,” he said. “Applying the Doncaster Airport case, called DPP v Chambers, if Ms Yaqoob did not suffer any apprehension, in that she did not think the threat was credible the man has committed no crime,” he said. “In fact, by effectively retweeting the comments, if any of Ms Yaqoob’s followers were apprehensive about her safety then under the Crown Prosecutions Service’s interim guidance it is her that has committed a offence.”

West Midlands Police said the 37-year-old man from Corby was arrested on suspicion of sending malicious communications and is now being held by Northamptonshire police, a spokesperson said. Ms Yaqoob, who has often spoken out against the Iraq War and Afghanistan War stood down as a Birmingham City councillor in July 2011 for health reasons.

UKIP’s party Chairman Steve Crowther said that this form of Internet trolling is intolerable: “The NEC has decided to suspend judgement pending the outcome of Lincolnshire Police’s investigations into the allegations, and into the alleged hacking of Cllr Pain’s Facebook account.
“Mr Pain is to step down as chairman of the party’s East Midlands Regional Committee in the meantime. He will continue to represent the electors who voted him onto Lincolnshire County Council.
“UKIP deplores racism, but is also aware that the party is under concerted attack from political organisations such as Hope Not Hate who are attempting to thwart our progress.
“We will deal with any proven instance of genuine racism appropriately, but will resist politically-motivated campaigns designed to inhibit our growing popular support.
“We are aware of the increasing amount of internet hacking and counterfeiting, and will continue to work with the police and service providers to establish the veracity of any such allegations which may be made, and their sources.”

Internet trolling expert, Jonathan Bishop, said the law on racist trolling is clear. “DPP v Collins showed that even making reference to ‘foreigners’ can be considered racist if it is likely to grossly offend that group.
“The protection in DPP v Connolly that if the intended recipients were not that group is unlikely to apply as Pain is a public figure and it should be expected his comments would be widely publicized if he uses his personal Facebook page as part of his public life.“

TROLL: Karen Roberts has been accused of trolling by Mick Antoniw.

Karen Roberts, who is the Campaigning Co-ordinator for the Pontypridd branch of the Liberal Democratic Party, has been accused of trolling by Mick Antoniw, who is the Labour Welsh Assembly Member for Pontypridd.

Following debate about the health reorganisation in the locality Antoniw tweeted: “@KarenClydach @leightonandrews Karen you are close to trolling with continual inane and abusive comments/blogs. Cease or I will block you.” Antoniw posted the message in response to a tweet by Roberts that read: “Lab for R Glam site now Campaign for R Glam. This because rest of ‘Labour’ didn’t agree?”

Roberts defended her comments. “Slick (Antoniw) is a little uptight about the while issue, so much so that he threatened to block me from his twitter account if I didn’t stop posting in his opinion ‘inane’ comments,” she said. “Apparently direct political questioning is ‘trolling’ according to him. Not something I’ll be losing any sleep about.”

Jonathan Bishop, who is an Internet trolling expert and former Labour councillor said Antoniw was in the wrong. “We don’t have democracy without both free speech and accountability,” he said. “If Mick Antoniw puts himself in the firing line on Twitter, he should expect to be held to account by all people and to call that post trolling was more insane than inane!“

In a response to the ‘Putting Victims First‘ white paper, Jonathan Bishop says that the UK Government’s plans to allow for ASBOs to be brought in the civil courts without criminal penalty will offer more opportunity for members of the public to deal with the effect of Internet trolling if it extends beyond statutory agencies.

The UK Government is proposing a ‘Community Trigger’, which carrying no criminal sanction and can be brought in the civil courts if three citizens call for it to happen. Current plans are to simplify the system of multiple orders to single flexible ones that can be used by the police and local authorities.

Bishop directs the Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems, which made a response calling for a similar mechanism to the ‘Community Trigger,’ and says he welcomes the move. “I have been a strong supporter of ASBOs as a means to deter anti-social behavior, but it has only been accessible to local authorities and the police who may abuse it for their own ends,” he said. “I would like to think that the Government’s plans will bring anti-social behaviour legislation in line with the Family Law Act 1996 and the Children Act 1989, on the same basis as the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, where orders can be brought in the civil courts and are thus accessible to all members of the public.
“In many cases the orders under these pieces of legislation can carry criminal obligations if breached – in the same way ASBOs do.”

Not all are convinced however. South Wales Crime Commissioner Alun Michael, who introduced ASBOs when a Labour Home Office Minister said the old system should be hung onto. ”Why on earth get rid of a system that is tried tested and effective through the magistrates court in favour of a system through the county court involving more bureaucracy, more cost, and less protection for local people,” he said.

Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram, who has called for tougher action on Internet trolling also condemns the plans. “Cameron is attempting to turn the clock back with plans to scrap the ASBO and replace it with a weaker power which carries no criminal sanction for a breach,” he said. “The Government’s community trigger, which demands a response if a person has complained three times just isn’t good enough. People have the right to expect action right away and help to tackle an issue which is a huge worry.”

But Bishop says that Rotheram has it wrong. “Steve Rotheram is calling for more criminal measures in relation to Internet trolling, but police are not even using the existing laws in relation to trolling,” he said. “The current proposals would build on New Labour’s ith Anti-Social Behaviour Legislation,” he said. “With a little refinement to bring it in line with the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to create a civil remedy, the three-complaint trigger will offer a better means to avoid vexatious complaints, as I called for in Crocels’s response to the Government’s Open Public Services White Paper.”

Benjamin Flatters of Lincoln is believed to have made comments on Facebook of a racist or anti-religious nature. Flatters was charged by Lincolnshire Police this afternoon and is due to appear before magistrates in Lincoln on Saturday.

Jonathan Bishop is an Internet trolling expert at the Crocels Trolling Academy, and author of the academic book by IGI Global, ‘Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of Internet Trolling.’ He said: “There is a balance to be struck between a message being free speech or grossly offensive,” he said. “There might be pressure on the police at the moment to be seen to be doing something, but it would be better they focus their time on protecting people from violence in our organic communities as opposed to wasting time on people who pose no threat to anyone.”

In 2012 Paul Chambers was acquitted of sending a threatening message about blowing up Doncaster Airport. The judge in the case said a message had to cause apprehension to be classed as trolling. Bishop said this might apply in this case:  ”It is unlikely a racist message would make people apprehensive that they could be harmed, which might be why the police did not bring charges under the Communications Act 2003 which offers this protection for posters” he said. “Spending police resources on trolling is not going to give confidence to many of the public who are understandably in fear, especially with the news that the armed forces had to be called out to intercept a plane than landed in London, which will have echos of 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.

“I’m pleased to see that the province is following through on an annual conference dealing with the important and pressing issues of bullying and cyberbullying, and doing it in a way that embraces a wide range of stakeholders,” said Wayne MacKay, chair, Nova Scotia Task Force on Bullying and Cyberbullying. “The clear youth focus and involvement will result in a more informed and engaging learning environment for delegates of all ages.”

The Minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women the Province of Nova Scotia, Canadian Government, Marilyn More, announced today that the conference, titled Speak Up: Empowering Youth, Parents and Educators to Address Bullying, will be held August 15-17 at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.

“Nova Scotians of all ages want to know what they can do to create safer communities for our province’s children and youth,” said Ms. More. “Through this conference, we will create a place where people can learn, share experiences and ideas, and leave feeling empowered to address bullying in their communities.”

The province’s anti-bullying co-ordinator will work with the Youth Advisory Council, school boards, teachers, school advisory councils, home and school organizations, Human Rights Commission, Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Disabled Persons Commission, and experts on youth mental health and bullying and cyberbullying to determine session topics.

Some topics being considered include leading positive change in communities, recognizing and dealing with bullying for parents, social media use and technology, legal issues, teen mental health, and gender and orientation issues.

“Students have a unique understanding of bullying issues so I’m very pleased that the voices of young people will be brought forward through planning and participation in the conference,” said Katelynn Gough, chair, Nova Scotia Youth Advisory Council. “The conference will help people of all ages share a common understanding of bullying issues, and raise awareness of how we can all become part of the solution.”

The conference will be open to junior and senior high school students, parents and guardians, recent high school graduates, educators and community organizations. Separate sessions will be held for junior high students, senior high students, and adults, with relevant topics targeted to age groups and audiences.

Cultural and artistic components will also be included in the conference, showcasing the work of young Nova Scotians.

It has been revealed that computers located at the university formerly called University of Wales Institute Cardiff have made critical edits of the page about Welsh education minister Leighton Andrews, who the university management have differences of opinion with.

A computer user at the newly renamed university using the IP address, ’193.62.97.117,’ edited Wikipedia to say that it “refused to merge and threatened legal action in a bid to remain independent unless Andrews could produce a business plan to support his case.” And also that “however in late 2012 he u-turned and announced, he would no longer be seeking to do this.”

GRAPHIC: A computer user at the Cardiff Metropolitan University edited Leighton Andrew’s Wikipedia page with unfavourable comments. Courtesy: Screen-grabbed from Wikipedia.

Earlier this year Crocels News revealed that a computer at Swansea University had been used to edit Wikipedia, including making homophobic remarks. Comments by the unknown user included that academic Russell Deacon, ”is a personal friend of the Cheeky Girls,” that  another academic, left Swansea University for Cardiff Metropolitan University for a “record breaking £1.3million pound,” and that this move to Cardiff Metropolitan University by by that academic was “pending a medical, and work permit“

Additional edits by the same computer at the Cardiff Metropolitan University included being of a promotional nature to boost the university’s reputation. One edit was about the university’s department called Cardiff School of Art and Design (CSAD):

CSAD has nine ‘Subject’ areas: Fine Art, Ceramics, Architectural Design & Technology, Product Design, Graphic Communication, Illustration, Drawing, Textiles and a history and theory subject area called Constellation. All of its ‘Subjects’ can be studied at undergraduate, (BA/BSc) postgraduate (MA/MDes/MFA/MSc) and at research degree level (PhD) or Professional Doctorate (PDoc). CSAD has a number of partner colleges who deliver its Art & Design Foundation Diploma, HNCs, Foundation Degrees and a further BA on its behalf. CSAD has a jointly delivered MDes in Experience Design with the Samsung Art and Design Academy in South Korea as well as a number of other partnerships as far away as Los Angeles and Australia.

Other edits by accounts based at Cardiff Metropolitan University included to main page about the university, which is against Wikipedia’s conflict of interest rules, as well as to rival university pages, which is also against Wikipedia’s rules.

Swansea University has had its IP address, 137.44.1.153, which resolves to a computer network called abbott.swan.ac.uk blocked following a series of abusive edits to its pages. They included saying that Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood is also known as “Leanal Wood” and that academic Russell Deacon is “is a personal friend of the Cheeky Girls.”

A Swansea University computer was blocked from Wikipedia after abusive edits. Courtesy: Screen-grabbed from Wikipedia.

Recent investigations by Swansea University reported by Crocels News found that this IP address was not used by a University manager and Liberal Democrat Mike Day. It has not yet been able to identify who made the original edits uncovered during Wikigate, which included saying: “In a recent poll conducted by the British Uniform Masons(BUM) show that Andrew Pagan is a big bender” on the “Sexual orientation and military service” article. Other edits included that an former Swansea academic move to Cardiff Metropolitan University for a “record breaking £1.3million pound,” and that this move was “pending a medical, and work permit.”

It is unclear what Swansea University intends to do about the abuses of its computer systems, but it something they are aware of and have been investigating.

Amanda Jones, who is standing for the Welsh Liberal Democratic Party, attacked the website of Pontypridd Town Council which she is seeking election to. Flame trolling on Facebook Page she said: “The site is awful. The front page holds a promise of meeting dates for 2013 to appear soon. Likewise the events page for 2013 has not been updated.”

GAFFE: Amanda Jones attacks Pontypridd Town Council’s website when her own party’s isn’t in order. Courtesy: Obtained from Facebook.

Inexperienced campaigner Amanda Jones even went so far as trying to get political capital out of the death of Pam Harper which triggered the by-election. “The list of Councillors still includes the unfortunate Mrs Harper who passed away in January,” she said, “The latest ‘news’ item was the result of the paddling pool referendum last November.”

Jonathan Bishop is an Internet expert, who is standing for the Pluralist Party in the election. “It is a bit rich for Amanda Jones to attack the website for the town council,” he said. “Performing industry standard tests show that the Pontypridd Liberal Democrat website is 50% more likely to fail to work on web browsers than the town council one.”

Amanda Jones was adamant she wasn’t mistaken. “How are people supposed to get to grips with what the Town Council is about?” she blasted.

MINING: Dzôn’s grandfather served in the Ty Mawr colliery in the Rhondda Ward. He is pictured here at the underpass in Treforest where he gave young people the opportunity to mark the historic significance of the mining heritage of the Pontypridd area.

Heading the ballot paper is Jonathan Bishop, commonly known as Dzôn, a Welsh name pronounced ‘Jon.’ Dzôn has a lot of links with the Rhondda Ward. He went to school  there, and his grandfather Ted Bishop worked at the local Ty Mawr Colliery. Dzôn is highly experienced, having served on two local councils, including for Treforest. He is a company director of three limited companies, including Crocels CMG CYF, where he helped restore an underpass in Treforest with public art, including artistically represented aspects of Pontypridd’s mining past.

Second on the ballot paper is Stuart Fisher, who is standing for Plaid Cymru. Stuart has a background in environmentalism, and is a director of the Plaid Cymru Credit Union. Stuart is one of the most experienced candidates in the election after Dzôn. He represented the Hawthorn ward on Pontypridd Town Council until 2012 and is eager to help those in the Rhondda Ward make best use of his experience in public office.

Third on the ballot paper is Robert Fox. Bob is one of the few of the candidates to have served on both the town council and the borough council. In 2001 he joined with RCT council’s two Liberal Democratic Party councillors, Mike Powell and Steve Belzak in addition Talbot Green Councillor Paul Bacarra, to form the Democratic Alliance. Bob’s nomination is supported by Graeme Beard, who along with Jim Davies and now Liberal Democrats Katrina Jones and Karen Roberts joined Bob in the Democratic Alliance Group in 2001. At the time Karen Roberts was the Chairman of the Group. “Hopefully it will result in a greater level of democracy and open government,” she said at the time. “The one thing we all have in common is a desire to improve services and facilities. That’s why we were elected, not to indulge in petty party political arguments.” Since this time Karen Roberts and Katrina Jones have joined with Mike Powell to take over the Liberal Democratic Party’s local branch. In 2009 Karen Roberts accused former Democratic Alliance partner Paul Baccara of Internet trolling. Known as ‘cry trolling,’ she complained when her former coalition partner Baccara said her job with the Liberal Democrats was “a waste of taxpayers money.” Many people agreed with Baccara, who added: “Now go and get a life, which must be difficult as an aged divorcee, but there must be something out there for you.”

Fourth on the list is Amanda Jones for the Liberal Democrats, of which Karen Roberts is still to this day an active member. Amanda Jones is new to public life, only recently joining the Liberal Democrats after being headhunted by them following her involvement in the local paddling pool campaign. Amanda Jones said about her Liberal Democrat membership. “The Welsh Liberal Democrats are the only ones who have stood up and fought alongside residents to keep the paddling pool,” she said. “They are not afraid to speak up for what they believe in, and not afraid to talk to people and take their views on board. It is why I joined the Party in February and why I am pleased to be standing under a Welsh Liberal Democrat banner.”

Fifth on the list is Brian Watts for the Labour Party. The sixth and final candidate is Andrew Williams Jones for the Conservative Party. Commenting on Jones’s nomination, Bob Fox’s nominator, Graeme Beard, said: “A Tory from Pwllgwaun? A definite winner there then!”