Highest ever number of death threats reported in the Black Country
More death threats and malicious messages were reported to police in the Black Country last year than ever before – as pressure grows on social media companies to tackle online abuse.
West Midlands Police recorded 1,376 offences of people making “threats to kill” in the Black Country alone in the year ending March 2021 – up more than three quarters (74 per cent) on 791 offences the previous year.
This is the highest number on record.
Yet in more than eight out of 10 cases recorded by West Midlands Police, alleged offenders were acquitted and did not receive any kind of punishment.
That was either because of problems with evidence (including the victim not supporting further action), no suspect being identified, or prosecution not being deemed to be in the public interest.
Only nine per cent of cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summoned to appear at court.
Offences of sending “malicious communications” have also risen rapidly since its introduction as a criminal offence in 2017/18.
These are cases where someone has sent an email, a social media post, or any other form of communication that is indecent, grossly offensive, threatening or contains information that is false or believed to be false.
Last year, 8,473 of these offences were recorded in the Black Country, a 67 per cent increase on the 5,064 crimes the previous year, and a 241 per cent rise on the 2,482 offences in 2017/18.
Nine in 10 cases recorded by West Midlands Police resulted in the offender escaping justice altogether. A suspect was charged or summoned by court in just two per cent of malicious communications cases.
These figures come at a time when social media companies face increasing pressure to tackle online abuse following the death of Sir David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, which has fuelled the debate about the dangers MPs and others can face virtually as well as in person.
A man has since been charged with malicious communications after Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, received a series of threats. It came the day after another man was arrested on suspicion of the same offence.
Ruth Smeeth, CEO of the Index of Free Speech – and a former MP who has received online hate and several death threats – said: “There have always been people who have wanted to target public figures – whether that be celebrities or politicians – with bullying and intimidation.
“We are seeing a spike because it is so incredibly easy to do that now. Tweeting someone at 11pm takes three seconds – and social media really does bring out the worst in some people.
“But no-one is thinking about what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that. Victims are going to feel really scared.
“During the 2019 election, I got two death threats. The first was a normal, hand-written message. They went through the criminal justice system at the time.
“The other was digital and it goes to court next month. That’s a problem. Online threats are often not dealt with quickly, if they are dealt with at all.
“I got my first death threat in 2014 and at that time the police I spoke to didn’t have access to Facebook.”
More than 50 Tory MPs have now written to the five biggest social media firms – Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and Reddit – demanding mandatory ID checks to verify their users.
However, Ms Smeeth said it was important any future legislation to target online threats and intimidation does not impact on free speech – for example by making it impossible to remain anonymous online.
She said many people rely on anonymity, such as domestic abuse survivors who can seek online help without revealing themselves.
MPs have also been debating the Online Safety Bill, which aims to help protect young people, clamp down on online abuse, while also “safeguarding freedom of expression”.
The Bill would put more responsibility on online platforms to tackle online threats and abuse – and would give Ofcom the power to levy fines of £18 million or up to 10% of global profits on social media platforms which fail to comply with new rules.
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said: “Our pioneering online safety laws will tackle online abuse and force social media companies to stamp out abhorrent behaviour on their platforms.
“Failure to act could result in serious punishment including multi-billion pound fines up to 10% of global turnover.”
