Privacy laws have made it even easier for people to attack others on the net without fear of consequence. Despite the fact we’re in an un-parralled age of data tracking, social media sites can’t reveal identities or details for fear of losing members.

Trolls abound with the mindless glee of 12-year-old bullies but sadly a great number of them are much older and certainly old enough to know better.

The Charlotte Dawson case has highlighted yet again the dangerous side of social media – it’s a fertile playground for bullies who are no longer content with your lunch money. Instead they’re aiming for your emotions & dignity and fishing for your anger & hurt.

They’re vicious children spurred on by a sense of entitlement to a ‘freedom of speech’ they neither understand or appreciate. Their justifications and circle jerks of reassurance are reminiscent of Lord Of The Flies where might was right.

Still the times they might be a’changin’. Earlier this year a British woman won a High Court case to force Facebook into revealing the identities, IP addresses, email addresses and where they posted from.

I’ve been told off-the-record by a Facebook staff member that the social media giant has no objection to complying with such orders to stop cyber-bullying but need to be seen to forced into it to comply with privacy laws and “public expectations”.

Even this month New York police were talking of going to court to force Twitter to reveal the identities of members who made some very serious comments about mass murder and shootings.

These are fascinating cases and hopefully will lead to a system of greater accountability and, eventually, some greater individual responsibility on the net. At the moment it’s the wild west and people say whatever they like without fear of repercussion. Indeed, the mob mentality has possibly never been so obvious with people from all over the world jumping to in arguments with cutting remarks in a vain attempt to appear funny.

Most trolls telling someone to kill themselves do it out of a misjudged sense of comedic exaggeration. They think it will be seen as funny and certainly the one-upmanship and impolite bile only worsens as they egg each other on.

So maybe it’s time the regulators had the means by which to identify the immature and hopefully dissuade the lynch mobs from forming. But of course for every valid use of the courts in such a way there’s always the people willing to exploit such laws to protect their own egos and reputations.

Even if the law somehow catches up with technology and modern communication any change won’t be quick. It’s cultural and not bound by country or even generation. To truly rid ourselves of the cyber bullying/troll menace we’d need a massive shift of perception towards mutual respect and individual responsibility. That won’t happen overnight if at all. But here’s hoping we all find a better way.

Anthony is an internet addict who also happens to lecture at QUT in Journalism and communication technology.