A Gay Activist's Original Response to Online Poison Pens
When he received death threats from anonymous internet commenters, Reimo Mets could have gone straight to the police. Being a lawyer himself, he might have sued. But the well-known gay activist chose a more original tack, sending a strong signal to poison pens that they are not as anonymous as they think.
Mets filed a complaint against 20 people to court for defaming his character or making threats against him in internet comments. He chose the 20 comments he found to be the worst on the website of tabloid Õhtuleht, and contacted the people behind the IP addresses, requesting 1,000 or 1,500 euros.
"I'm not the kind of person who lets himself be walked over, kicked, and insulted," said Mets. "I simply don't and that is one reason I am doing this."
A court ordered Õhtuleht to disclose the IP addresses and ISPs to reveal the identities of the people. "I was surprised actually that most of the comments were posted not by urbanites but by people in the countryside," said Mets.
The legal process took eight months. In April Mets sent letters to the mailing addresses of the people behind the IP addresses, asking for an apology - and 1,000 euros for a mere insult and 1,500 euros per death threat.
"I consider a death threat much more credible, and mailing a death threat and going after my life is for me a much greater legal breach than simply a verbal insult aimed at me and claiming that I am sick because I am in a sexual minority."
Mets alleges that the people who made the comments were traced to a municipality electoral committee member, an accountant of a small business, a pensioner, the headquarters of a major construction company, and even the home of a well-known musical conductor.
Current editor-in-chief of Delfi and the former deputy editor of Õhtuleht Urmo Soonvald said he does not believe anyone will act maliciously on the basis of the comments. He said Mets's actions are helping to weed out the nasty commenters - by making people with bad intentions realize they are not really anonymous.
Kristopher Rikken