death threats : Java Glossary

One problem with the Internet is nearly every kook on the planet is attached to it. If you say something controversial on a website, in a newsgroup, or a forum it is quite common to get emails threatening to kill you and perhaps your family. These are nothing to worry about.

If your phone number is posted in a way easy to find with Google (e.g. on a website, or on a Facebook friends-access page) the kooks will get it and phone you at all hours of day and night threatening to kill you and perhaps your family. These too are nothing to worry about.

Kooks are rarely motivated enough to look you up in electronic phone books or pay for directory assistance.

Sometimes right wing radio talk show hosts such as Lowell Green will broadcast your name, address and phone number on the air and ask people to harass you suggesting you would be better off dead. You will then get a large burst of threatening calls. Even these are nothing to worry about. Just turn off the phone ringer for a few days. You might use technology to block all calls without caller-id. Most kooks make their threats anonymously to ordinary caller-id. (The phone company still knows who they are.)

When I did my gay lib work in the 1970s, for years I got 300-350 abusive phone calls a day and 3 warning me they were on their way to my house to kill me. Nothing ever happened. Starting on 9/11 the death threats started again because I hid not approve of American foreign policy.

If someone were serious about killing you, they would be foolish to warn you. They would be stupid to phone you so that their phone number were in the phone company records as a suspect for your murder. I am in Canada. Crazies in the USA or Russia might be more likely to carry through.

The actual murders are usually done by gangs to try to find a gay person alone late at night. By picking a random victim they are much less likely to be caught.