Online hate campaign targets Brighton mum (From The Argus)
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Online hate campaign targets Brighton mum
4:00pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in News By Bill Gardner
An online hate campaign targeted a Brighton mother who stood up for reality TV bad boy Frankie Cocozza.
Nicola Brookes from Brighton posted a comment on social networking site Facebook defending the X Factor contestant after her daughter told her he had been sent hate mail.
Ms Brookes, 45, told a national newspaper: “People were wishing Frankie dead.
“I left one comment telling him to keep his chin up.”
Within minutes anonymous Facebook users turned on her and more than 100 abusive messages were posted within 24 hours.
Internet users who harass and bully others are known as “trolls” in the online community.
Ms Brookes, who has been seriously ill in recent years, said the abuse she received was almost unbearable.
She reported the offending posts but says she received no response from Facebook.
Horror
Then she discovered that a troll had set up a fake account in her name.
To her horror she learned that the fake page was spewing out messages to Cocozza’s 98,000 fans, many of whom are children.
Many of the messages contained explicit content and were sent to children as young as nine.
Ms Brookes said: “They set up a sex profile with my name and photograph and personal e-mail address, saying I was Frankie’s drug dealer, a prostitute and a paedophile.”
When she first reported the incident to police in Brighton Ms Brookes said she was told harassment had become so common that officers could not take action and that no crime had been committed.
It was only after her lawyer wrote to the chief inspector that the case was reopened, she claims.
A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “We sympathise with the woman for the distress this has caused her and if we are able to identify the person responsible we will take punitive action."
Comments(15)
Pitviper
says...
4:06pm Wed 22 Feb 12
papa_melons wrote:Exactly!!!
why are children as young as nine getting access to facebook accounts ?
Twittern Wanderer
says...
4:38pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Pitviper wrote:Sussex Police cannot take any action? No change there THEN!
papa_melons wrote:Exactly!!!
why are children as young as nine getting access to facebook accounts ?
Twittern Wanderer
says...
4:40pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Pitviper wrote:Sussex Police cannot take any action? No change there THEN!
papa_melons wrote:Exactly!!!
why are children as young as nine getting access to facebook accounts ?
In other news...
I loved that the woman who reported the sex attack has been informed that no incident took place! Did she not know
Mart2a
says...
4:43pm Wed 22 Feb 12
freewheelingdom
says...
5:41pm Wed 22 Feb 12
GRANDAD
says...
9:47pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
9:55pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Some people have no self resepct and seem to care little for their own kids.
NickBrt
says...
8:32am Thu 23 Feb 12
Morpheus
says...
9:32am Thu 23 Feb 12
Archie Bun
says...
12:55pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer
says...
1:16pm Thu 23 Feb 12
"A WOMAN was sexually assaulted in the street by a convicted rapist as undercover surveillance officers tracking him were just yards away.
Michael Phillips dragged down his victim from behind, sexually assaulted her and then passed officers who had been tasked to carry out surveillance to stop such an attack.
Twelve officers had been assigned to follow Phillips that night but lost sight of him for less than a minute.
One detective said he could not hear the victim scream because he was partially deaf in one ear and was listening to surveillance equipment in the other. "
BRILLIANT, YOU COULD NOT MAKE IT UP! THIS IS THE REASON SUSSEX PLOD ARE A LAUGHING STOCK AND COULD NOT SOLVE CLUEDO!
Twittern Wanderer
says...
2:05pm Thu 23 Feb 12
freewheelingdom wrote:Agreed!... Mostly with their 'Grammar and Spelling' but their Hearts are in the right place.
You lot need help.
Twittern Wanderer
says...
2:07pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer wrote:Wait a minute.. looking at your monicker again.. Ye gods, you are not one of those veggie tree hugging bicycle ring loons I hope.
freewheelingdom wrote:Agreed!... Mostly with their 'Grammar and Spelling' but their Hearts are in the right place.
You lot need help.
If not I apologise.
Bladesboy Returns
says...
7:40pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer wrote:Waster
Twittern Wanderer wrote:Wait a minute.. looking at your monicker again.. Ye gods, you are not one of those veggie tree hugging bicycle ring loons I hope.
freewheelingdom wrote:Agreed!... Mostly with their 'Grammar and Spelling' but their Hearts are in the right place.
You lot need help.
If not I apologise.
papa_melons says...
4:03pm Wed 22 Feb 12