FOI Online Abuse (0645-2024/25)

Request
Q1.  I would like to know how many individuals were reported for a case of online abuse in the years 2022,2023 and 2024 individually where the offence was committed by an individual under the age of 18 and those 18 and over. I would like this age breakdown provided separately. 

Q2.  I would also like to know the outcomes of the report - how many were charged - for both those offenders under the age of 18 and those 18 and over. If you cannot provide this additional information please just provide the other information I have requested.

Online abuse defined as: death threats, cyber bullying, threats, sexual harassment, cyberstalking, emotional abuse, unsolicited sexual imagery and enticing violence or harm through online speech and comments.

Extent of Searches to Locate Information
Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision
I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is required to retrieve that information.

To retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to undertake a manual search to determine whether the report relates to “death threats, cyber bullying, threats, sexual harassment, cyberstalking, emotional abuse, unsolicited sexual imagery and enticing violence or harm through online speech and comments”, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act. 

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). If you are able to provide the specific crime types you require then we may be able to reconsider your request for information.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.