0:00:00 > 0:00:03This programme contains strong language.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07- Hi. I'm Charley and Jane says that I should go and- BLEEP- myself because no-one else will.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14Hi. I'm Carney and Ben said I am weird loser and should go die.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21My name's Lani and Alex says everybody hates me and I should leave school.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28I'm Gemma and Jodie thinks I don't fit in, and that I'm "fat-tastic".
0:00:29 > 0:00:35- Hello. I'm Richard and Dick Bacon Boom thinks I'm a- BLEEP - and wants me to kill myself.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44If you're on Twitter or Facebook, there's every chance you've seen a message just like one of those.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46If not about you, then about someone you know.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53In the last couple of years, there's been a massive explosion in online hate.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Bullies and so-called trolls using fake identities on social networking sites
0:00:57 > 0:01:00to torment, harass and abuse.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02And they do it the coward's way.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05They're hiding behind a keyboard and a computer.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10They have the freedom to say things you wouldn't normally say to somebody's face.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13And that anonymity means there's no boundaries.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Someone can say something and you're like, God, that's below the belt!
0:01:16 > 0:01:19There almost seems to be no belt now.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27I've spent the last three months in the virtual world on the hunt for Britain's haters, including my own.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33"I'm not a violent man but when I see Richard Bacon I want to stamp on his head."
0:01:33 > 0:01:38I've discovered nasty, witless videos which mock the dead.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43# LOL. You died # LOL, LOL, you died. LOL... #
0:01:43 > 0:01:46I've talked to grieving families devastated by horrific images
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and messages posted about their lost loved ones.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52That's my son there that you've just...
0:01:52 > 0:01:57I felt violated. They've got no right to do that. No right.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00And the internet should be able to stop them from doing that.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03It's a world where it's hard to know the truth.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05You've written, "RIP mate. Remember when we went up to the park,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09"got high and had anal sex in the trees and that was amazing.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13"Missing you loads. RIP Big Mac." Did you write that?
0:02:13 > 0:02:16And the dangers of the hunt are alarming.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21If I were you, I would pursue some sort of intervention and advice from sort of police authorities.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24That very premise is really unsettling.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35A couple of years ago, a new word entered our vocabulary - trolling.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41Trolls post vicious messages on social network sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Their sole purpose is to antagonise and attack everyone,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49from grieving families to people in the public eye.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52ANOUNCER: Now Richard Bacon, Monday to Thursdays, two till four.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Welcome. Welcome to the programme. It is delightful to be back.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58'I've had a troll for two years.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03'He first appeared when I began presenting a new show on BBC Radio 5 Live.'
0:03:03 > 0:03:09I would have hated to have cut short, for example, the Help feature two Mondays ago...
0:03:11 > 0:03:16'From the off, he made it clear he hated the show and he hated me. And that's fine.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21'You expect criticism in my line of work and you know some people aren't going to like what you do.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24'But this guy was particularly obsessive.'
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I'd come home to find a barrage of abuse, mainly on Twitter.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36He'd always post under a made-up nick name and currently calls himself Dick Bacon Boom.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41He also set up a blog called I Hate Richard Bacon,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45and there was this Facebook page with exactly the same name.
0:03:45 > 0:03:52These are some of the older tweets that he sent me, ones the early days. It's just so weird.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57"Did I mention I fucking hate Richard Bacon and that he should go and fuck himself?"
0:03:57 > 0:03:59OK. He's sent me a tweet here.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04- "On a scale of 1 to- BLEEP,- how much of a- BLEEP- is Richard Bacon?"
0:04:04 > 0:04:10"Fuck, I was hoping to get back from my hols to discover Dick Bacon either sacked or dead.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13"Neither it seems! Sad face! Boom!"
0:04:13 > 0:04:18The fact that he was anonymously tweeting rude, crude and violent messages day after day,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22month after month, didn't particularly bother me at first.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26When you're a broadcaster, having people hate you goes with the territory.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31But, increasingly, his posts became more personal and more strange.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35He fantasised about me dying in a plane crash and my body being mangled in a car wreck.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41One day, I actually got into a conversation with him on Twitter, which was a mistake.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45I tried to rationalise with him, and he just sent me a load of abuse.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47My wife tried to rationalise with him.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52When he tweeted her and said, look at this fan site. She opened it and there was all this horrible stuff,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56including fantasising over my death, she tried to rationalise with him as well
0:04:56 > 0:05:01and he just sent her loads of really horrible personal abuse.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03He also knows a lot about her.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I've never said what my mum's Twitter address is and he found it out.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14As soon as he started drawing my family into his hatred, I asked Twitter to take down his account.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18They did, but he just created another account under a different name.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23As I tried to find out more about the problem,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27I was alarmed to learn how many people suffer anonymous abuse online.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35According to a new survey, more than a quarter of under-17 year olds have experienced cyberbullying.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40And most disturbing of all are the reports of grieving families being targeted by trolls.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47There's been such an epidemic of this over the last few months. You might have read about celebrities.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Kylie, for example, called the police after she got a load of abuse on Twitter.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56And, more seriously, there are lots of kids now who are bullied online awfully,
0:05:56 > 0:06:02and you get grieving families who set up tribute sites on Facebook to a relative of theirs who's died,
0:06:02 > 0:06:08and often those sites will be flooded with the most vile and disgusting abuse.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13And I want to know why there's been such an explosion of this kind of stuff,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18what sort of kick the people that do the bullying get out of it, and what can be done about it.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23To find out why Britain's haters have gone into overdrive
0:06:23 > 0:06:27I want to hunt them down and ask them face-to-face.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30As well as trying to track down my own troll,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I want to find out what drives the authors of the most abusive messages
0:06:33 > 0:06:36to attack vulnerable people who they've never even met.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42These so-called RIP Trolls post sick jokes,
0:06:42 > 0:06:47defaced pictures and videos on internet memorial pages commemorating the dead.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53# LOL. You died # LOL, LOL you died... #
0:06:53 > 0:06:59I came across this video on Facebook set up to pay tribute to a young boy who had just died.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04# LOL, You died # LOL, LOL you died... #
0:07:04 > 0:07:07In the unlikely event you don't know, LOL is an abbreviation
0:07:07 > 0:07:10for the phrase, "Laugh out loud".
0:07:10 > 0:07:13It's hard to imagine how I'd feel if that was a friend of mine.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18I had a friend who died earlier this year and there was a Facebook site set up for him
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and if I had seen this on there, and also knowing his family would see this too,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27I would feel aggressively angry about it.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35Tom Mullaney's family know only too well how merciless online hating,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and RIP trolling in particular, can be.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Tom was 15, boisterous, spirited and energetic.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48The very life and soul of his family.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55He was fun-loving. He was always out and about with his friends. Never kept still for five minutes.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01You always had to keep your eye on him because he had no fear of danger.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06If he was on his BMX bike, you heard the screech of the tyre coming down the road.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The back gate would go bang, upstairs, on the computer.
0:08:10 > 0:08:16If you were angry at him, you couldn't stay angry at him for long. He just made you smile.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23It took only a dozen threatening messages posted on his Facebook page to pull Tom's world apart.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31His parents had been out for the evening, but returned to find the house empty.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35We went upstairs, the bedroom light was on, the computer was still on,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39the television was still on and his chair was pushed away from the computer screen
0:08:39 > 0:08:42as if he'd just pushed away in one of his moods.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- And his screen was still on. - And his screen was still on.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51When Tom's dad looked at the screen he saw it was open on his Facebook page.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Six or seven kids had posted threatening messages
0:08:54 > 0:08:58about a fight Tom had been involved in that day at school.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06Suddenly, something's gone wrong in Thomas' head and he has got really scared.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11In my mind, he's got frightened, he's got scared and he doesn't know how to deal with this.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Tom's parents rang their son's mobile repeatedly, but there was no answer.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22The next morning, the 15-year-old was still missing, and Tracy and Robert were frantic with worry.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Then they heard his mobile ringing at the bottom of the garden.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I just peeked behind the shed and I saw this figure
0:09:32 > 0:09:37and I said to Thomas, "Come on, I'm late for work, get going", and then I walked away.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42As soon as I looked back at the shed I...I knew there was something wrong.
0:09:43 > 0:09:50There was... he wasn't standing on nothing and I just looked up and I saw the cord.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55I just grabbed his little hand and I can still see it now.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57And it was cold, it was clammy.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02And I knew there was nothing I could have done then.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05So I walked back and shook and...
0:10:07 > 0:10:09..phoned the police and the ambulance.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15I just run out the house trying to get down to Thomas to see him but Rob wouldn't let me go
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and by which time the police were here.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26As if that weren't enough for the family to endure, within days of his death,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Tom became the victim of RIP trolling.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Probably just to show my emotions as well.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39His brother Ashley had set up a tribute site on Facebook for friends and family to post messages.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44At first, it was a source of comfort to the Mullaneys.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50But the site was soon desecrated by trolls who attacked en-masse,
0:10:50 > 0:10:55posting defaced images of Tom and upsetting messages.
0:10:55 > 0:11:02There's pictures of my brother decapitated, pictures of my brother hanging himself, just horrible stuff.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05They took a photo of my brother, I think it was that one actually,
0:11:05 > 0:11:10and just put a noose round it and, yeah, just horrible comments as well.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- Did you write back to some of them? - I did.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14I've put a post on there saying, "Look, just leave this page alone.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19"You've got not right putting all these horrible comments and pictures. You didn't know my brother."
0:11:19 > 0:11:20What did they say back to that?
0:11:20 > 0:11:25They just took the mick out of it and said, your brother was a coward for committing suicide,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29took an easy... cheated death and all that stuff.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33You didn't know about internet trolling before this and your mum and dad didn't know about it.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35What kind of impact did it have on them?
0:11:35 > 0:11:39My mum was just disgusted and angry and my dad was the same.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It was just hard to see them really upset.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52I just thought, those are our family pictures. Why have you done this?
0:11:52 > 0:11:55That's my son there that you have just...
0:11:55 > 0:11:58I felt violated. They've got no right to do that.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And the internet should be able to stop them from doing that.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06The nasty comments could be quickly removed,
0:12:06 > 0:12:11but taking down the defaced pictures was a laborious and upsetting process.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14I can still see the caption.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I can still see the photograph.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I can still see the words.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It's imprinted on your brain.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28Amongst the trolls targeting Tom Mullaney was someone calling themselves Damon Evans.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33He posted this crude comment on Tom's Facebook page.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37It kick-started a string of offensive jokes about Tom and his family.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43I've managed to track down a YouTube account for a Damon Evans.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47And I think he may be the person responsible for the post.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I've contacted him to see if he'll do an interview so I can try and begin to understand
0:12:51 > 0:12:55what would motivate someone to post such vile, hurtful comments,
0:12:55 > 0:13:00but he'll only meet me if I can convince him I am who I say I am.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03In an e-mail he sent me, he defends trolling.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06He says RIP sites are fine when friends and family post on them,
0:13:06 > 0:13:11what he doesn't like is when people who didn't know the deceased post a nice message
0:13:11 > 0:13:14he says those people are just trying to look nice.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18He admits to a form of trolling himself, but says that his facebook site was cloned
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and somebody nicked his identity and did some trolling.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25That seems like quite a coincidence that he does trolling then someone would nick his identity
0:13:25 > 0:13:27do some trolling with his name.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34He's asked me to send him a message to his twitter account as proof of who I am.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Once he's convinced, he says he'll arrange a meeting.
0:13:40 > 0:13:47In the meantime, I want to know what experts believe motivates Trolls to post messages on RIP sites.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Is it possible they just don't understand the consequences of their abuse?
0:13:52 > 0:13:58Dr Emma Short is one of the country's leading experts in online harassment.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Well, I don't think they are necessarily thinking about the family watching it, to be honest.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05It's just a joke.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Emma, is there a typical profile to these people that troll?
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Well, it's very hard to say. It all depends on the motivation, why are they doing it?
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Some people are doing it to intimidate, to frighten, to control
0:14:16 > 0:14:20and other people are doing it purely for notoriety and to get their own following.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24These platforms seem to encourage people
0:14:24 > 0:14:29to abuse in a very extreme way, don't they?
0:14:29 > 0:14:35Mmm, if you are someone who lives your life largely online, I think that margin begins to blur
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and actually, it's just cyberspace, "It's a behaviour I'm engaging in,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41"I like doing it, I'll send another message."
0:14:41 > 0:14:42And the impact you're having, I think,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46almost becomes irrelevant because the reward is the behaviour itself.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48It feels good, you get nastier and nastier.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54So is the troll who is relentlessly targeting me doing it for notoriety, attention,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56or something more complex?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I tried to approach him online to find out, but that didn't work.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01So, I want to unmask him.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05If I find out his identity, perhaps I can contact him
0:15:05 > 0:15:08in the real world, to get some answers.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11The only name on his Twitter account refers to me,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14there are no photos of him and no e-mail address.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20IT expert Paul is going to give me some tips
0:15:20 > 0:15:22on unmasking anonymous haters.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26How hard is it to track down somebody who posts anonymously?
0:15:26 > 0:15:30This guy that I'm dealing with, he's not given much away, has he?
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Your hater doesn't leave many clues on his Twitter feed.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36He's quite intelligent, he seems to know the technology quite well.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39It's going to be a bit of a challenge.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- OK.- So, what we need to do is maybe set up a trap.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43Like a honey trap?
0:15:43 > 0:15:45- A honey trap. - A honey trap!
0:15:45 > 0:15:48We need to tempt him out into the open, find his e-mail address
0:15:48 > 0:15:50and when we find his e-mail address, then perhaps
0:15:50 > 0:15:55we can find more details about him online or even find his IP address.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00By searching for references to his Twitter feed and blog elsewhere,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Paul has managed to come up with some leads.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05He's found a Facebook page which promotes links to both.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Above these postings is the name of the person who's put them up.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15We've found this entry here, I don't know whether this person is your troll
0:16:15 > 0:16:19but he's certainly promoting the troll's Tumblr account.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24On this page, there's an online conversation which took place
0:16:24 > 0:16:28back in 2010 when the three hate accounts first appeared.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Paul thinks the person who posted the links to promote these sites
0:16:31 > 0:16:34could be the same person who set them up.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40We can perhaps click on his name and find out more details about him.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43So, in that Facebook conversation there
0:16:43 > 0:16:47he put a link to the Tumblr account? That's why we're interested in him?
0:16:47 > 0:16:51And that's why, yes, and I think that Tumblr account is connected to the Twitter account.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56So, how does this guy know about the existence of that Tumblr account?
0:16:59 > 0:17:01The Facebook site gives the name of our suspect.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03With a bit of clever detective work,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Paul manages to find a matching e-mail account within minutes.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12And that's confirmation that that is the right e-mail address.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Paul uses that address to then uncover a digital trail
0:17:15 > 0:17:20which leads to his name, home town, as well other online accounts.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23His Photobucket account, his Bebo account, his MySpace page.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26I'm sure there's a load more as well.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29But are we getting closer to unmasking my hater?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31He's 43 years old.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35It wouldn't surprise me if that was about the age of this troller
0:17:35 > 0:17:37because he's a 5Live listener.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I never thought we were dealing with someone who's, say, 25.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45No, no. The language used is quite well constructed.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49You know, good language apart from the obvious bad words!
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Good use of apostrophes, he's quite educated.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56So, now we have an e-mail address for our 43-year-old suspect,
0:17:56 > 0:18:01the next step is to get an e-mail for Dick Bacon Boom to see if they match.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04If they do, we've hit the jackpot.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Paul's suggested I lure him into revealing his e-mail address,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14'by pretending to be someone who hates me.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'But making contact with him could prove tricky.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19'My hater hasn't tweeted lately.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22'It seems to be my radio show which triggers his hatred.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25'And I think he's gone quiet because I've just become a dad
0:18:25 > 0:18:27'and taken some time off work.'
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I'm back on the radio today for the first time in a fortnight.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I've been off because I've had a baby and I'm going to try and smoke him out.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Whenever I say anything ironically on Twitter
0:18:37 > 0:18:40he simply doesn't see that, he takes it seriously,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44so I'm going to say, "Back on the radio today
0:18:44 > 0:18:47"with guests Jason Manford and Reginald D Hunter,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51"I imagine every single person is delighted by this."
0:18:51 > 0:18:55If he responds, I'll be one step closer to tracking him down.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01As abusive as my troll is,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I think it goes with the territory of being a presenter.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07But for the hundreds of thousands of victims of cyberbullying,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11the threat seems much more personal and unexpected.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15In recent months, the papers have been full of stories citing research
0:19:15 > 0:19:18about just how widespread the problem is.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20According to some of these studies,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23the perpetrators don't really understand
0:19:23 > 0:19:26how serious what they do actually is.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30They don't, because they can't see the impact of what they're sending,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34they fail to understand how much distress cyberbullying causes.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38And also, the bullies will often post anonymously.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39So, you see the abuse
0:19:39 > 0:19:42you know it's someone you know because of the detail within it,
0:19:42 > 0:19:43but you don't quite know who it is,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47which I think is probably even more disturbing.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts is one of the few celebrities
0:19:52 > 0:19:57to take this on, and draw attention to the damage online hate can do.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03After writing about her own experience at the hands of bullies,
0:20:03 > 0:20:08Nicola was inundated by tweets from victims desperate for her support.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12It's hard to see kids, sort of tweeting,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15saying, like, "I'm scared to go to school today," or,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19"There's a group of girls in college just telling me to just kill myself."
0:20:19 > 0:20:23It's almost like someone can say something and you're like, "God, that's below the belt."
0:20:23 > 0:20:28There almost seems to be no belt now. People just say whatever they think.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Do you think these social media platforms make people exaggerate their opinions?
0:20:32 > 0:20:37In others words, the bullying is worse because they're doing it to an audience to some extent?
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Yeah, I do. And it's sort of like it's all about self ego, isn't it?
0:20:42 > 0:20:46So, to say something nasty to somebody else
0:20:46 > 0:20:50automatically elevates you to a higher place.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It's like feeding a side of society that really does not need to be fed.
0:20:53 > 0:20:59# I feel like a yo, yo Yo, yo, yo-yo. #
0:20:59 > 0:21:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Carney Bonner is a former victim of cyberbullying
0:21:09 > 0:21:14who now runs mentoring sessions to help others protect themselves against the bullies.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18When we have our Q&A sessions,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20we see that actually a lot more people than we think
0:21:20 > 0:21:24either have been affected by cyberbullying or are being cyberbullied.
0:21:24 > 0:21:30The statistics have come out that 1 in 3 people aged between 11 to 17
0:21:30 > 0:21:33can be cyberbullied, with girls three times more likely.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36It goes to school with you, it goes home with you,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39it goes in the shower with you, it goes everywhere you go.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45So, being a teenage girl means you're three times more likely
0:21:45 > 0:21:47to be targeted than a boy.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Gemma, Charley and Lani have all been sent abusive posts online.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02Lani, tell me a bit about how it affected you.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04I had to actually go on medication for a while
0:22:04 > 0:22:06and I would lock myself in my room
0:22:06 > 0:22:10because I was so worried about everybody.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Do you think it seems more powerful because it's in writing
0:22:14 > 0:22:16when you see something in words?
0:22:16 > 0:22:20I think so because if it's, like, on your Facebook wall
0:22:20 > 0:22:24or on Twitter, you keep seeing it and other people can see it as well.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27And the person that bullied you, is it weird when you see them the next day?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I think it's really strange.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32I had a case where someone had made a comment to me on Facebook,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36I went into school the next day and they came up to me and gave me a hug.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41Like, "It was meant to be a joke." And you're like, "Was it?" Cos you're not sure if they meant it.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45There is a statistic, Lani, that says that girls aged 12 to 17
0:22:45 > 0:22:50are three times more likely to be the victim of cyberbullying than boys.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Why do you think that might be?
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I think girls seem more vulnerable to others, as men put on quite a strong front.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Sometimes internet bullies will say, "I'm just expressing an opinion."
0:23:00 > 0:23:02What do you say to that?
0:23:02 > 0:23:03You have to think of other people,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07you have to think of what consequences your actions have.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13And sometimes I think that people like this, A, realise
0:23:13 > 0:23:15and, B, are they perfectly happy with the fact
0:23:15 > 0:23:17that they might be tipping someone over the edge?
0:23:17 > 0:23:22Often the bullies just don't know how vulnerable their victims are.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27Remember 15-year-old Tom Mullaney who had no history of being bullied?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31He took his own life after just one night of cyberbullying.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37These words that are coming out of another 14-year-old's mouth
0:23:37 > 0:23:38about "I'm going to beat you up,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41"I'm gonna follow you, then I'm going to beat you up some more
0:23:41 > 0:23:44"and when you get off the floor I'm going to beat you again".
0:23:44 > 0:23:46And everybody else going, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
0:23:46 > 0:23:50If I don't do anything, they're going to think I'm a coward
0:23:50 > 0:23:54or if I do anything I'm going to get into trouble.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57I'm actually not going to stop punching you in your effed-up face.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58'According to the family,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01'six kids sent Tom threatening messages that night.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05'Only one of them was cautioned by the police.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08'Their words still haunt Tom's brother.'
0:24:08 > 0:24:10"You come to school tomorrow and I'll beat you up in first lesson,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14"second lesson, break time and lunch time, fourth lesson."
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Do you think the people that wrote these messages in the first place
0:24:17 > 0:24:18don't understand what they did?
0:24:18 > 0:24:22I don't they understand what they've said pushed my brother over the top,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25because they don't know what was going on in his personal life.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28They've literally torn my family to pieces.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31This house feels so empty without my brother.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36- Yeah.- And now he's not here it's just... It's too quiet.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Ashley told me his family's anger and grief was only deepened
0:24:41 > 0:24:46by the vile pictures and comments that appeared on Tom's tribute page.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50And I think I'm getting closer to meeting one of the people
0:24:50 > 0:24:53'who I believe could be responsible for defiling Tom's memory.'
0:24:55 > 0:24:58I'm about to call Damon Evans.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01I've been talking to him on YouTube and Twitter over the last month.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Yeah, of course you can.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10'And I think he may be responsible for posting this abuse
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'on Tom Mullaney's RIP tribute page.'
0:25:13 > 0:25:16OK, well, there you go, he has agreed to do an interview,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18which is good news.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20He sounds sincere.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25I suppose because of the nature of what he does,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27there's a bit of me, you know, it's not particularly rational,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31so there's a bit of me that wonders whether he'll actually turn up.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33We'll find out.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39But first, I want to find out more about how trolls operate.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43It's high-profile tragedies which make the news
0:25:43 > 0:25:46that attract the most RIP Trolls.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51'Nearly a thousand came to celebrate a magnificent young man...'
0:25:51 > 0:25:5417-year-old Horatio Chapple died after being attacked
0:25:54 > 0:25:58by a Polar Bear on a schools expedition to the arctic.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02It made news around the world.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06'But the 17-year-old never returned from his most ambitious adventure,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09'he was killed by a polar bear on an expedition to Svalbard...'
0:26:09 > 0:26:11After his death,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14several tribute sites were set up to Horatio on Facebook.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19One of them was by his family and others, anonymously, by his friends.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22As is usually the case,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25the vast majority of messages posted were comforting.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29But then the trolls started to appear -
0:26:29 > 0:26:31both on tribute pages to Horatio
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and on pages dedicated to the polar bear that killed him.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Horatio's Godfather tried to protect the family from the vile messages.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44It sort of snowballed into really horrendous comments
0:26:44 > 0:26:50and postings from people saying, you know, just...
0:26:50 > 0:26:55you know, unimaginable things. But including things like, you know,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58obviously he shouldn't have been there, he deserved to die,
0:26:58 > 0:27:03it's all his fault, to graphic pictures of dismembered bodies
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and comments along with them and it was just unbelievable.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Harry set about scouring the tribute sites
0:27:11 > 0:27:13and forwarding the good messages onto the family.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Unlike many websites, Facebook has clear rules to prevent trolls
0:27:17 > 0:27:20harassing and intimidating others.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22And it gives those who create tribute pages,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25the tools to block and remove content.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29But because some of the sites to Horatio were set up by others,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33it was difficult for Harry to remove the abuse.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38There probably isn't a simple way of stopping people from creating pages
0:27:38 > 0:27:43in any circumstance. I think it would be great to have an official way
0:27:43 > 0:27:48of creating an official tribute page that was through the Facebook system.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54Frustrated at his inability to control Horatio's tribute sites,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Harry Cunliffe sent letters to five senior executives at Facebook
0:27:58 > 0:28:01including the founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05I had no response at all from Facebook and I was really shocked,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10I was really surprised. It makes no sense to me that a corporation
0:28:10 > 0:28:14that size, that's become extremely wealthy,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17that they wouldn't be taking responsibility
0:28:17 > 0:28:20for dealing with urgent issues in an urgent manner.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Facebook say they have no record of receiving any
0:28:24 > 0:28:29of the five registered letters Harry says he sent.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33They say they remove offensive comments within 24 hours of them being reported.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36But sometimes distasteful images and comments,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39including this one, do not violate their rules,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43as they're trying to strike a balance between censorship
0:28:43 > 0:28:44and freedom of expression.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48I've looked into the law and, whilst it defends the right to free speech,
0:28:48 > 0:28:54it also says that sending grossly offensive messages can be illegal.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Facebook argue that freedom of speech and the right to criticise
0:28:58 > 0:29:02make some offensive images and sick jokes on tribute sites acceptable.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05But when I look at images like this, that we saw earlier,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08and think about the devastating impact that must have had
0:29:08 > 0:29:10on an already grieving family,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13I do wonder if they're calling it right,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16if they really are best placed to act as judge and jury
0:29:16 > 0:29:19over what is and is not offensive.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25'But what about the hunt for my own hater, Dick Bacon Boom?
0:29:25 > 0:29:28'His messages go beyond criticism. He's fantasised about my death
0:29:28 > 0:29:31'and has sent links full of abuse to my family.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34'But he stopped tweeting when I took a couple of weeks off
0:29:34 > 0:29:37'from my radio show for the birth of my son.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40'So, I posted an antagonistic comment
0:29:40 > 0:29:43'to see if it would get him tweeting again.'
0:29:43 > 0:29:46So let's see if he's active.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50He's changed his profile picture.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54It's now a picture of me when I got beaten up about three years ago
0:29:54 > 0:29:56with a busted nose and some bruises.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Oh, he's now mentioned my son.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01I've got a son who's four weeks old.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04"Oh you poor fucker @ArthurBacon!
0:30:04 > 0:30:08- "Imagine having that - BLEEP- as your dad.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10"#shitdads."
0:30:12 > 0:30:13I mean...
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Your reaction to it is quite strange.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19I laugh cos it's so ridiculous.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21For the record, my son does not have a Twitter account.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25It does bother me.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27How could that not bother you
0:30:27 > 0:30:29when there's a theme of violence to it,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31when he's mentioning my newborn son?
0:30:31 > 0:30:35In the past, he's tweeted my wife and my mum,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37but it also intrigues me
0:30:37 > 0:30:40because I want to know...why?
0:30:40 > 0:30:41Why he's doing this.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45Why this utter obsession?
0:30:45 > 0:30:48I want to know what he gets out of it
0:30:48 > 0:30:51and I want to know what he's like.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I want to meet him. I want to talk to him.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Now he's back tweeting,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01I want to lure him into revealing more details about himself.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04And here we see on the computer...
0:31:04 > 0:31:07When I met with IT expert Paul,
0:31:07 > 0:31:10he said this was crucial to uncover who Dick Bacon Boom really is.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16I want to see if his e-mail address matches with Paul's prime suspect.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20'As Paul explained to me when we first met,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22'getting my troll's e-mail address
0:31:22 > 0:31:25'would unlock the key to information required to track him down.'
0:31:25 > 0:31:27When we find his e-mail address,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30then perhaps we can find more details about him online
0:31:30 > 0:31:32or even find his IP address.
0:31:32 > 0:31:33And what's an IP address?
0:31:33 > 0:31:37An IP address is like a mobile phone number of the internet, if you like.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Everything on the internet has got its own number,
0:31:40 > 0:31:44and those numbers trace back to an internet service provider
0:31:44 > 0:31:46or possibly a place of work
0:31:46 > 0:31:48and those are the details the police might use
0:31:48 > 0:31:52to find out who's behind an internet posting.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55'So, to get those extra details that Paul says I need,'
0:31:55 > 0:31:59I'm going to try and get him to reveal his e-mail address
0:31:59 > 0:32:02by pretending to be someone who has some compromising photos of me,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05ones that I hope he'll want to see.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I'm going to write to Dick Bacon Boom,
0:32:08 > 0:32:09"Love...
0:32:09 > 0:32:12"your picture of Bacon..."
0:32:15 > 0:32:21"My brother works in the same building as the twat..."
0:32:25 > 0:32:28It's curiously enjoyable slagging yourself off in a Tweet.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31"Works in the same building as the twat..."
0:32:31 > 0:32:34"Got some great pics of him on his iPhone".
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Then shall we see if he comes back and wants to look at them?
0:32:39 > 0:32:42- Is that what we're doing? - That's what we're doing.- All right.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46This is it. This is our honey trap.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47Let's send it.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50It's actually quite exciting.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52I'm pretending to be a troll,
0:32:52 > 0:32:53who hates ME.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01And it turns out I'm not the only one pretending to be a troll.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05It's also a trick used by self-appointed troll hunters -
0:33:05 > 0:33:08people who spend hundreds of hours on the internet,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12trying to track down and exposing the very worst of the online haters.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17I've been sent information on over a dozen RIP trolls
0:33:17 > 0:33:19who target tribute pages.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26The troll hunter who sent me this information
0:33:26 > 0:33:29goes by the name of Michael Fitzpatrick.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31He started hunting trolls
0:33:31 > 0:33:34three years ago, when he discovered a YouTube account
0:33:34 > 0:33:38posting offensive and violent messages about murdered children.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40He was incensed by it.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46Michael has agreed to meet me, but because he fears for his safety
0:33:46 > 0:33:50he won't show his face on camera. We've also disguised his voice.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55'Using fake online profiles, Michael has gained access
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'to private Facebook pages where the trolls gather
0:33:58 > 0:34:01'to plan their attacks on RIP websites.'
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Hello, Michael. How you doing?
0:34:04 > 0:34:06'In the three years since he began his hunt
0:34:06 > 0:34:10'he's discovered just how organised and vicious trolls can be.'
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I can just say there were hundreds of them organising.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18Some of them have said they trawl through the papers every day
0:34:18 > 0:34:20to find out about a child who's died
0:34:20 > 0:34:22and they'll look for an RIP page for a dead child.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25If there's not one, they'll set one up themselves.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27A lot of them have been bullied,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30and ex-trolls have said to me that a lot of trolls
0:34:30 > 0:34:33are getting their own back on society by doing this.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36'According to Michael,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39'RIP trolls are not just nasty, they're dangerous.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43'If you annoy them, they'll steal your name and your photo
0:34:43 > 0:34:47'and post vile and inflammatory messages on sensitive tribute sites
0:34:47 > 0:34:49'using your identity.'
0:34:50 > 0:34:56At some point, this could turn into something violent.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The only surprise to me is that nobody has been killed over this,
0:34:59 > 0:35:03because I mean, they're playing on the rawest of human emotions.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06It's only a matter of time before one of them gets killed
0:35:06 > 0:35:09or even worse, an innocent person gets killed because of them.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12And why are you doing this interview anonymously?
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Because they could place my life and my family's life in danger.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18I've seen them find troll hunters' names and addresses
0:35:18 > 0:35:20and they've made loads of Facebook pages
0:35:20 > 0:35:23saying they're paedophiles and they abuse children.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34When I started this,
0:35:34 > 0:35:39I thought it was all largely about mad people or irrational people
0:35:39 > 0:35:42posting these crazy things on Facebook and Twitter
0:35:42 > 0:35:45but the thing that really stood out to me about Michael
0:35:45 > 0:35:48is that he says they're taking the names of real people
0:35:48 > 0:35:53and posting abusive messages under their names on RIP sites
0:35:53 > 0:35:56and endangering those people in real life.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59And that's just made me realise that this is, this is all
0:35:59 > 0:36:04a lot more serious than I thought it was when I began this hunt.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Which begs the question,
0:36:09 > 0:36:12why are RIP trolls getting away with posting vile messages?
0:36:12 > 0:36:14It's the 2003 Communications Act
0:36:14 > 0:36:19which makes it illegal to post obscene offensive messages online.
0:36:19 > 0:36:25You could be sentenced to up to six months in prison for doing so.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28But only two trolls have been convicted in the UK using this Act.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31According to academic Clare Hardaker,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34getting enough evidence to bring a successful prosecution is tough.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Unfortunately, people are often really upset by these posts.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41They don't want friends or family to see these things on a tribute page
0:36:41 > 0:36:42so they delete it very quickly.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44The police need evidence.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47They need screenshots of these posts so they can take action.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Also, even if the police have the evidence,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52trolls work very hard to keep themselves anonymous.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56They'll use a range of different accounts, each other's accounts,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59they'll even take over innocent people's accounts.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02So even if the police track back to a person they think is a suspect,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06they need to prove, did this person write this message at this time?
0:37:10 > 0:37:16Colm Coss is one of the only two trolls to be prosecuted in the UK.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20His arrest and conviction by Greater Manchester Police
0:37:20 > 0:37:23gives a chilling insight into the mind of a troll
0:37:23 > 0:37:25and the dangers they pose.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28PC Julie Gerkhe was first alerted
0:37:28 > 0:37:31when she received a dossier of information
0:37:31 > 0:37:34showing RIP Facebook pages that Coss had attacked.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40The person who had put the pack together had identified Colm Coss
0:37:40 > 0:37:43as a troll, and explained what a troll was within the pack.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46A lot of detective work went into that from somebody
0:37:46 > 0:37:48who's technically policing the trolls
0:37:48 > 0:37:50and trying to inform people of this troll.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53It was the troll hunter I've met,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57Michael Fitzpatrick, who compiled this dossier.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01For the police, this was new territory.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05The vile comments posted by Colm Coss on tribute sites
0:38:05 > 0:38:06are too disturbing to repeat,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09making obscene sexual references to the deceased.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13A lot of it was on memorial sites for babies
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and for people who had died in car crashes.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20Coss, who is unemployed and in his 30s, was arrested
0:38:20 > 0:38:23and brought in for questioning.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26His police interviews give a real insight into the mind of a troll.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30For example, he justified his actions by claiming
0:38:30 > 0:38:34that many of the tributes on RIP pages are not from genuine mourners.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38The pages are flooded with, "I never knew you or your family,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40"I am devastated by your passing,"
0:38:40 > 0:38:42and it's like, you what?
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Just step back, you never knew this person.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48So I find that quite...provoking. It's like that, "Well, OK,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52"If you're going to write this inane baseless comment,
0:38:52 > 0:38:54"I've got one of my own."
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Colm Coss also admitted
0:38:56 > 0:39:01to deliberately making his comments as shocking as possible.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Just purely provocative, it made me laugh.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08And it's also just so over the top, in my eyes,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12that anyone who takes it seriously must be quite a sensitive soul.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16He wants to leave messages there to cause offence to people.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19When he gets a notification that somebody's replied to it,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22that's when he gets his buzz, that's his buzz.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26In October 2010, Coss was convicted
0:39:26 > 0:39:30for offences committed under the 2003 Communications Act
0:39:30 > 0:39:33and was given an 18-week prison sentence.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36But his short stint in prison
0:39:36 > 0:39:40doesn't seem to have stopped Colm Coss trolling.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Michael Fitzpatrick, the troll hunter I met,
0:39:42 > 0:39:46whose evidence helped convict Coss, has continued to keep tabs on him
0:39:46 > 0:39:50and has discovered he's still posting abuse on the net.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55- What's he trolling here, what's this?- This is him in October.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58He's on an RIP page for a young girl who got killed
0:39:58 > 0:40:00in a stampede in a nightclub,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and he's written, "One mo dead nigger? Meh."
0:40:04 > 0:40:07'So it seems that Colm Coss could still be a troll.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09'Michael also showed me evidence
0:40:09 > 0:40:13'of Coss posting messages on tribute pages using the name Karen Shaw.'
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Because anyone can set up a site under anyone else's name,
0:40:16 > 0:40:18how do you know that's really him?
0:40:18 > 0:40:20'It's not just Michael's screen grabs
0:40:20 > 0:40:22'which provide evidence Coss is still at it.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26'Michael also said he confronted Coss in an online conversation.'
0:40:26 > 0:40:29I asked him, was he trolling again?
0:40:29 > 0:40:32And he says he was, he said it was him. He was doing it.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35I asked him why, and he says because he's never going to stop
0:40:35 > 0:40:40cos he loves it, and he's not scared of going back to jail again.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Just days after my meeting with Michael,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44he spotted another racist post,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47which he believes could be from Coss.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50It was posted on a tribute page to Anuj Bidve,
0:40:50 > 0:40:55a student who was murdered in Salford at the end of last year.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Here's what he says.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01"How will of his children (56) and wives (24)
0:41:01 > 0:41:04"and mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers
0:41:04 > 0:41:06"get their Western Union money exchange funds now?
0:41:06 > 0:41:08"You didn't think of that, did you?"
0:41:08 > 0:41:10So that is what he would think is a joke, I guess.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12It's got a streak of racism about it.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15It appears to be him, it's posted under his name,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19but who knows? This world is so odd.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21But if it is him, then clearly prison hasn't put him off.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25And I'd like to know what drives him on, really,
0:41:25 > 0:41:27I'd like to ask him. He might not answer,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30but I think it's time to go and meet Colm Coss.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35We've written to Coss to see if he'll meet me,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39so I can ask him if he's still posting nasty comments on RIP sites.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41He's refused to take part in the programme
0:41:41 > 0:41:43so I'm in Manchester looking for him.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Colm Coss has been spotted by a member of the production team
0:41:49 > 0:41:54on a bike near an internet cafe three miles from the city centre.
0:41:54 > 0:41:55Let's go.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58Colm? Hey.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01My name's Richard, from the BBC. How you doing?
0:42:01 > 0:42:04- We wrote to you.- Yes.- All right if I ask you a few questions?
0:42:04 > 0:42:07- Not really.- We have evidence from Michael Fitzpatrick
0:42:07 > 0:42:10- you've been trolling since you came out of prison.- Allegations.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13There's a difference between allegations and evidence.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16You have allegations by him which he's made to myself.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18- So you know about it?- Yeah, I do.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21You know this one here? Here's what I wanted to know, Colm.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24You certainly trolled sites before you went to prison.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28We have evidence, allegations you've done it since you went to prison.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32The heart of what I want to know is really, why you do it.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34Why do you troll?
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I realise what you want to ask, but I've said I don't want to take part.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39Before you went to prison...
0:42:39 > 0:42:41- No...- We know you went to prison.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44- I don't wish to answer any questions.- Why not?
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Look, I don't have to. You're just, you know, a TV programme.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49I don't have to take part.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- I'm not obliged to. I don't wish to. - Just let me ask you this.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Is that you, Colm,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56on the site for Anuj Bidve
0:42:56 > 0:43:00- where you've written this comment here?- Look...
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- "How will all of his children..." - I don't wish to be interrogated,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05- by you or anyone.- Do you deny that?
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- Is that you or not?- I don't wish to answer any questions
0:43:08 > 0:43:10and you're just asking questions and I'm not going to.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13That's OK, but I'm free to ask the questions, Colm.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16- Did you troll under the name Karen Shaw?- I'm free not to respond
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and I am a little busy, so if you don't mind, I have to go.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Thank you very much, Richard. I do enjoy your Radio 5 show.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32It's unsettling, door-stepping someone like that, I must say.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Well, he called them allegations, he didn't exactly deny them,
0:43:38 > 0:43:42he has said to Michael Fitzpatrick on the telephone
0:43:42 > 0:43:45that prison hasn't put him off trolling, so we know that much.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49But as ever with this journey, it's a bit confusing
0:43:49 > 0:43:52and it's complex and really rather dark.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54Still, it's nice to meet a listener.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00It's very frustrating to Greater Manchester Police
0:44:00 > 0:44:04that Coss may still be trolling, but just underlines how difficult it is
0:44:04 > 0:44:07for any force to monitor social networks,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09gather evidence of trolling and track down the culprits.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13We can't police Facebook and we're not going to try.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17It's just too big, too vast, there's far too many people on it.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20People have got to be aware of the dangers of putting things on Facebook
0:44:20 > 0:44:24and police it themselves by making sure they've got tight control
0:44:24 > 0:44:28of their own Facebook, or whatever, accounts on whatever sites,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31so people can't make nasty remarks or steal their identity
0:44:31 > 0:44:34and if you really must open an RIP site,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37then think about the consequences
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and try and put some kind of control over it
0:44:39 > 0:44:44before you press the button and send it and make it a live document.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Even if you have got control over your own site,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51there is no way of stopping trolls creating a page in your name.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55Soon after meeting Colm Coss, I found someone had stolen my identity
0:44:55 > 0:44:57to create a fake Facebook page
0:44:57 > 0:45:01and their plan was to start trolling with it.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03I sort of thought this would happen.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06It's still a little bit unsettling when you see it,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09but I'm glad this happened before we finished making this programme
0:45:09 > 0:45:11because it illustrates how some trolls work.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14When they want to get at someone, they take your real name,
0:45:14 > 0:45:19set up an account and start abusing people using your name.
0:45:20 > 0:45:21As my hunt has gone on,
0:45:21 > 0:45:25there's hardly been a week when there hasn't been a story
0:45:25 > 0:45:27about trolls posting horrible messages.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Yet the Government currently has no plans to get tough with trolls,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33or with the social network sites
0:45:33 > 0:45:36which make it so easy for them to post messages.
0:45:38 > 0:45:39As for my own hater,
0:45:39 > 0:45:44they've posted 255 more tweets about me since I started this hunt
0:45:44 > 0:45:48and he's changed his profile picture to a newspaper photo of me,
0:45:48 > 0:45:51taken when I was the victim of an assault.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54But I still haven't tracked him down.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58So far, I've tried to get him to give me his e-mail address
0:45:58 > 0:46:00by pretending I'm a fellow hater,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04and saying I have some compromising photos he might want to see.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06But he hasn't taken the bait.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09So now, I'm going to offer the pictures to him.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14I am going to send him a link to a made-up blog
0:46:14 > 0:46:17and tell him he can download the photos there
0:46:17 > 0:46:20and see if that provokes a reaction.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23I'm prepared to carry on
0:46:23 > 0:46:26with my attempt to meet this guy and talk to him face-to-face,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29but psychologist Emma is seriously concerned.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34Clearly, you know, you as an individual embody something he...
0:46:34 > 0:46:35he hates.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38'She finds it alarming that my hater, Dick Bacon Boom,
0:46:38 > 0:46:42'has plastered his Twitter page with pictures of me beaten up.'
0:46:45 > 0:46:50This is a fixation upon you that has been long standing, obsessive.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53It's nearly two years now.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Is there any chance that this could become anything other than
0:46:56 > 0:46:59a man in a bedroom saying stupid things?
0:46:59 > 0:47:03There will be warning behaviours if it were to happen, you know.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Some of those will be the escalation of violent images.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10This is recent, that he's put this beaten-up profile picture on there.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Yeah, I mean, that's an escalation.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15You know, that's going from somewhere, up.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19Other warning behaviours might be him reporting having turned up,
0:47:19 > 0:47:21you know, whereabouts you are.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23What would you do about this if you were me?
0:47:23 > 0:47:27If I was you, I would pursue some sort of intervention or advice
0:47:27 > 0:47:29from, sort of, police authorities.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32That very premise is really unsettling.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34- What's the threat?- It's hard to say.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37I mean, he's clearly rehearsing,
0:47:37 > 0:47:41thinking about replaying violence directed towards you.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46- But there could be a physical threat. There could be?- Yeah.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51Is there any chance this could be someone I know?
0:47:51 > 0:47:53There is quite a high possibility of that.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Our research indicates more than half of people who are cyber-stalked
0:47:57 > 0:48:00end up finding out their stalker was someone they knew.
0:48:00 > 0:48:01It'll end up like Scooby-Doo
0:48:01 > 0:48:04where they unmask someone, "It was the janitor all along!"
0:48:04 > 0:48:08I don't know any janitors, but that, to me...that's weird.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I don't think it will be, but... I don't know, that's....
0:48:11 > 0:48:15- It's much worse if it's someone you know!- Yes.- Much worse.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21The stuff Emma the psychologist said last night changed things a bit.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25She talked about that picture escalating things,
0:48:25 > 0:48:28about some trollers go from trolling to entering your real life
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and that has unsettled me, that has been going round in my head
0:48:31 > 0:48:32and now I'm in a quandary.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35Do I go to the police? Which would be very dramatic,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37he'd have the police turning up at his door.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39It's not where I imagined this would go.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Or do I ignore her?
0:48:42 > 0:48:45And I genuinely don't know what to do now.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52While I consider whether to carry on the hunt for my own hater,
0:48:52 > 0:48:55I'm about to come face-to-face with Damon Evans.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59I've been messaging him through Twitter and on YouTube.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02I want to meet him because I believe
0:49:02 > 0:49:05he may have posted a message on Tom Mullaney's RIP page.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09So we're set up in there.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Damon is only 20,
0:49:11 > 0:49:16and in an e-mail exchange with me he's admitted to some trolling,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18denied other trolling, has defended elements of it,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21so let's just see what he's got to say for himself.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23Let's see how this goes.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30'So, after months of hunting online haters,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34'I'm finally going to confront Damon Evans.'
0:49:34 > 0:49:35- Damon? Richard.- All right?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38- How you doing? Thanks for doing this.- It's all right.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Come through here, we're all set up.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42'I'm going to challenge him
0:49:42 > 0:49:46'about a message that was posted on Tom Mullaney's tribute page.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48'I also want to know
0:49:48 > 0:49:51'why he got into the murky world of trolling in the first place.'
0:49:51 > 0:49:56It all started, I was just on Facebook when I was drunk
0:49:56 > 0:50:00and it was a Susan Boyle page, and it was just Photoshopping pictures
0:50:00 > 0:50:02and then putting them back on the page
0:50:02 > 0:50:04and it was just all a bit of fun.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07OK. And what were you doing with the pictures?
0:50:07 > 0:50:10There was one, her singing with a microphone
0:50:10 > 0:50:14- and just Photoshopping penises onto it.- OK.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16So is part of the motivation that
0:50:16 > 0:50:19you're trying to make people laugh, I guess?
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Yeah. Some people laugh, some people get annoyed by it.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27It is addictive, sometimes, when you get people, erm...
0:50:27 > 0:50:30going crazy at you and you find it quite funny,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34and you can just keep pushing them and pushing them and pushing them.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36- The people that are upset?- Yeah.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38It can be slightly addictive but...
0:50:38 > 0:50:42'So what about the messages posted on Tom Mullaney's tribute site
0:50:42 > 0:50:45'apparently in Damon's name?'
0:50:45 > 0:50:50Here's some stuff, screen grabs of the Tom Mullaney tribute site.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Now that, look, that's your name.
0:50:52 > 0:50:53That isn't me.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57I did, I think I mentioned it in the message, my account was cloned
0:50:57 > 0:51:00- and I have sent Facebook e-mails about that.- Have you?
0:51:00 > 0:51:04I think it was somebody that I'd trolled had cloned my account.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07- When I trolled, I didn't use my real account.- Didn't you?
0:51:07 > 0:51:11- No, I had another name set up. - What names did you use?
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Er, I'm not even sure, to be honest. It was ages ago.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19'Which is curious, because only days before meeting me,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22'he did remember the names he used to troll -
0:51:22 > 0:51:24'Ashton Steele and Martin Crooks.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26'He made this admission
0:51:26 > 0:51:30'in an online conversation with troll hunter Michael Fitzpatrick.'
0:51:32 > 0:51:34'This is one of the offensive comments
0:51:34 > 0:51:37'that Michael believes Damon posted on an RIP page
0:51:37 > 0:51:40'using the Ashton Steele identity.'
0:51:42 > 0:51:44There's another thing here.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47This is a conversation in which you have written,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51here's you admitting that Ashton Steele was one of the pseudonyms
0:51:51 > 0:51:53- that you used online.- Yes.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57"So that was me, Ashton Steele."
0:51:57 > 0:52:00So if we go here, this is an RIP site
0:52:00 > 0:52:03to a teenager who died when he was 15 or 16.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07And as Ashton Steele you've written,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10"RIP mate, you were a great friend with an even greater cock.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13"Remember when we went to the park,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15"got high and had anal sex in the trees. That was amazing.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19"I can't wait to be with you again buddy, miss you loads, RIP Big Mac."
0:52:19 > 0:52:20- Did you write that?- No.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23- I have sorted that out.- Have you? - People know it's not me.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27So you admit that you had a site under that name?
0:52:27 > 0:52:30- Yes.- And somebody else took that name?- This is a different name.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Yeah, it was the person that was cloning me
0:52:33 > 0:52:35but I'm not sure who that was.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39- You've never seen that? - No, I haven't. I've seen this one.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43I've e-mailed Facebook, not much more I can do. I've been to the police.
0:52:43 > 0:52:44Why would somebody
0:52:44 > 0:52:48clone a site of yours that's not even under your real name?
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Because I think it was somebody that I trolled previously.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54But I thought you'd only trolled celebrities.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56I'm not... I'm not sure. I messaged them
0:52:56 > 0:53:00and they said that I trolled them previously.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03But you are saying absolutely 100%
0:53:03 > 0:53:06you have never trolled on an RIP site?
0:53:06 > 0:53:08- 100%.- OK.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13'A few days after I met him,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16'Damon sent an e-mail admitting he had lied in the interview.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20'He wrote that he had posted messages on RIP tribute sites,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23'though he still denies posting messages about Tom Mullaney.'
0:53:24 > 0:53:28He goes onto to say, "I regret trolling RIP pages
0:53:28 > 0:53:30"and that's why I didn't admit it.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33"It was years ago. I don't believe it was a good thing, if I'm honest.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36"I believe some of the reactions I got were hilarious
0:53:36 > 0:53:39"but I understand what I did was wrong, I stay clear of it now
0:53:39 > 0:53:43"and like I say, I haven't done it in years and I'm now against it."
0:53:43 > 0:53:46The fact that he uses the word "hilarious" does suggest
0:53:46 > 0:53:50that he still doesn't fully understand the consequences of this.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54'As my three-month hunt draws to a close,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57'I've realised just how vulnerable we all are
0:53:57 > 0:53:59'to people who choose to attack us online.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02'Even when social network sites have rules,
0:54:02 > 0:54:04'regulations and security tools,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08'trolls seem to be able to bypass these measures at will.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11'I believe it's time
0:54:11 > 0:54:14'for the government to really get their head around this.
0:54:14 > 0:54:15'And I think there's a gap
0:54:15 > 0:54:18'between what the social networks find acceptable
0:54:18 > 0:54:21'and what the rest of us think. Most importantly,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25'families like the Chapples and the Mullaneys need more protection.'
0:54:25 > 0:54:28What are the points in the year that are the most difficult,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31when you really find yourself thinking about Thomas?
0:54:31 > 0:54:34He's missed time and time again,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38day in, day out, I miss him dreadfully.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40Something for nothing.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43This is where people have to realise, keep their mouth shut
0:54:43 > 0:54:45If you've nothing nice to say,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48don't say it at all. The internet's not the forum to put it.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52If, like Tom, you find yourself a victim of cyberbullying,
0:54:52 > 0:54:57the advice from the experts is, don't keep it to yourself.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01My advice to someone who's being cyberbullied is, don't retaliate.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04Just block them or just report them straight away
0:55:04 > 0:55:08and go to your teachers or go to someone that's close to you.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11'And if you find yourself a victim of trolling,'
0:55:11 > 0:55:14'don't get into an argument with them.'
0:55:14 > 0:55:18There's a phrase in computer language, "Don't feed the trolls."
0:55:18 > 0:55:19Don't give them anything.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Cos if you respond, especially if you respond with,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25you know, real observable emotion and upset,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28you are giving them more material
0:55:28 > 0:55:31with which to play and discuss and throw about.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33- That's the reaction they want.- Yep.
0:55:34 > 0:55:35As for my own hater,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39having taken advice, I'm told the nature and persistence of his abuse
0:55:39 > 0:55:43goes beyond what is considered acceptable.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46Which means it's time to leave the hunting to others.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53So the advice I've been given by two experts is to go to the police.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56They say there's a case there and that I should do it.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59It's not the personal criticism, that's fine, you kind of expect it,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02it's the stuff to my family, it's the violent imagery,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04it's mentioning my baby, that kind of thing.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08I didn't want to go to the police, it just seems very dramatic
0:56:08 > 0:56:10but it's what they've both said very clearly,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12so that is what I'm going to do
0:56:12 > 0:56:15and hopefully that will put an end to it.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17I may not have learnt the identity of my hater
0:56:17 > 0:56:19but I have found out just how easy it is
0:56:19 > 0:56:23for today's nasty bullies to hide behind a keyboard.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27If you find yourself under attack, keep the evidence -
0:56:27 > 0:56:29you may need it, if you have to go to the authorities.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd