THERE is obviously a very fine line between freedom of speech and online trolling but the news that laws are to be tightened on the latter is welcome.

The Crown Prosecution Service will now charge adults who make a profile in the name of a victim with fake information which could damage their reputation.

Typical was the case of Lauren Drew who died at 14. Loner Sean Duffy, who had no connection with the family, stole her picture and posted messages online purporting to be from the much loved child, in hell. We can only imagine the family’s anguish.

This is the latest evidence of a tougher approach to online trolls, and it’s long overdue. While we expect to be free to comment on various postings on social media or websites like the Bolton News’ own, it is not a licence to spew bile or make personally offensive remarks.

The opportunity to post their innermost thoughts and prejudices is just too much for some people who take to the internet on a regular basis, hiding behind anonymity.

You don’t have to be a celebrity, a politician or someone else in the public eye to receive such warped attention. And, for a long time, the law was slow to catch up with such changes on social commentary and untold damage and upset was wreaked by these sad individuals.

Now, fortunately, as technology and the law catch up with the trend for people to formulate really horrible posts and then present them as rational comment, more people are being prosecuted.

Announcing the latest changes, the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders also insisted that the new guidelines – which include tackling revenge porn – would not stifle free speech. There was a “high threshold” of offence to victims that had to be crossed before prosecutions were launched.

She added: “We all use social media all the time, it’s a fantastic tool. What we don’t want to do is anything that has a chilling effect on free speech. But where it is used for crime, and where it is seriously impacting on people’s lives, that’s where we do need to look at it and look at whether we have the evidence to prosecute.”

Interestingly, she also said she would support a change in the law to allow victims of online abuse to be granted anonymity. At last, some genuine light in a very murky tunnel.