Ustalanie tożsamości polskich użytkowników zagranicznych mediów społecznościowych – studium przypadków ścigania mowy nienawiści w cyberprzestrzeni Determining the identity of social media users in Poland: prosecuting hate speech in cyberspace – a case study

Abstract

Some cybercrimes are relatively easy to prosecute, while others are almost impossible. This often depends on the perpetrator’s modus operandi. When it comes to hate speech or other prohibited content posted on social networking sites, the effectiveness of basic investigative activities relying on data provided by the site administrator is limited. This article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of selected cases of legally concluded criminal proceedings concerning crossing the limits of freedom of expression on the Internet, where prosecution was successful and the real perpetrator was identified and brought to justice. In the analyzed cases, all perpetrators who posted on websites run by Polish entities were identified effectively, due to the cooperation between law enforcement authorities, website administrators, and telecommunications entities. On the other hand, the perpetrators of hate speech on foreign social networking sites (e.g. Facebook) were identified with basic Open-Source Intelligence techniques analysis, based on data publicly available in the perpetrators’ profiles (such as names and surnames, workplaces, and details of family and friends). This article provides descriptions of the facts and the course of proceedings in the analyzed cases, illustrating various variants of how the identity of the perpetrator through the analysis of publicly available data may be established. Key words: social media, hate speech, cybercrime, OSINT