Canadian Court Ruling Doesn't Make Twitter Harassment Legal

Today might be seen as a victory for the egg avatar crowd on Twitter, but it really shouldn't.

Ontario's Court of Justice decided on Tuesday to dismiss all charges against Gregory Alan Elliott, a Toronto man accused of criminally harassing two women on Twitter in 2012. During the trial, the Crown argued that Elliott's unrelenting tweets at the women—Stephanie Guthrie and Heather Reilly—caused them to fear for their safety.

Now that all charges against Elliott have been dismissed, some may feel emboldened to ramp up their efforts in the being-an-asshole-online department under the guise of free speech. But Halifax-based internet lawyer David Fraser believes that this would be a mistake.

"Certainly there are cases on Twitter that would, in my view, rise to criminal charges," Fraser said. "I wouldn't want the trolls of the internet to think that somehow this is carte blanche to continue that sort of stuff."

Moreover, Fraser continued, this case's outcome shouldn't encourage police and prosecutors to turn a blind eye to Twitter or unduly hesitate in seeking justice for victims of criminal harassment.

The case against Elliott hinged on whether Guthrie and Reilly legitimately feared for their safety in response to his tweets.

Guthrie believed that the high volume of tweets Elliott was sending her way constituted harassment. Reilly told the court that a tweet from Elliott implied he may have been at the same bar as Reilly and some friends, which she found "concerning." Reilly then testified that, even though she determined Elliott was not actually present at the bar, she nonetheless feared for her physical safety.

Elliott argued that his tweets were merely "valid political commentary" on the women's feminist beliefs. The judge, according to the decision, surmised that both women were harassed, but their fear for their safety was not objectively valid.

For Reilly's part, the judge decided that her continuing interactions with Elliott on Twitter after the Cadillac Lounge incident meant that a reasonable fear for her safety could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

As for Guthrie, the judge decided that there was "no direct evidence of Mr. Elliott's knowledge of Ms. Guthrie's harassment," and that Elliott's tweets "never threatened or were sexual."

The routine harassment of women online has become a familiar news item in recent years, particularly with the rise of Gamergate and the likes of so-called "pick-up artist" Daryush Valizadeh, or Roosh V. When Roosh visited Canada as part of a speaking tour last year, numerous women in various Canadian cities reported being targeted and harassed by Roosh's followers, and allegedly receiving veiled death threats.

"What I'm really worried about is if they realize that they can't attack me online, and they need to take it further," activist Sara Toulson, who was targeted by Roosh's followers, told Motherboard at the time. "It worries me that they're so dedicated and committed. That's what really worries me."

For cases where the harassment in question falls short of such threats, women may not have much recourse through the criminal justice system, Fraser said, although lawsuits in civil court for emotional distress or defamation should not be out of the question.

"This isn't the end of it," Fraser said. " I don't think anyone should say, oh, you can't be criminally charged for harassment on Twitter. It's always going to be a matter of if you can check all those boxes, and I really hope the police don't take away the message that they should leave Twitter to itself."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article reported that the charges against Elliott were dropped, when in fact they were dismissed. Motherboard sincerely regrets the error.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this article quoted Justice Knazan as saying Elliott's tweets were "homophobic," when in fact it appears as though he may have been referring to a tweet that was actually sent by a parody account. This article has been updated to remove a reference to Knazan's characterization of Elliott's tweets, and you can read Motherboard's follow-up story here.