Lawmakers in the U.K. are looking to increase the penalty for online abuse from six months to two years in jail.

Chris Grayling, a member of Parliament and Justice Secretary, is introducing the tougher sentences as amendments to a pending Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

"The sending of abusive messages or material online can cause absolute misery for victims and we need to make sure that people who commit these awful crimes are properly punished," Grayling said in a statement. "We already have offences in place to deal with this appalling behavior, but we've toughened up the law to make sure these crimes can be properly investigated and those who commit the most serious offences face a longer prison sentence."

That means serious cases will be elevated from magistrates courts to the Crown Court. The statute of limitations on reporting abuse and filing charges will also be extended from six months to three years.

The law covers "sending a letter, electronic communication or article of any description to another person, which is in nature, or which conveys a message which is, indecent or grossly offensive, or conveys a threat or false information, with the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom it is intended that its contents should be communicated."

The law comes after U.K. model Chloe Madeley received rape threats online following her mother's controversial comments regarding a footballer who was released early after being convicted of rape.

In a Monday statement, Madeley said she supported free speech, and had brushed aside online abuse in recent years. "But threatening to harm others is extreme and crosses the line of personal opinion into criminal behavior," she wrote. "The tweets I received this week were frightening, persistent, violent and sadly, far too easy to make on a public forum."

Madeley said she was "pleased" to hear about the increased sentencing guidelines, which she called a "good place to start." Ultimately, however, social networking "needs to be regulated," since it has become "the most influential and powerful voice of the people," she wrote.

One issue with pursuing online abusers, however, is figuring out who they are; tech-savvy Web users can easily cover their tracks, and few abusers make threats using accounts that bear their real names. Twitter's terms of service ban "direct, specific threats of violence against others, including threats against a person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, or disability."

Those rules encourage users to contact police if they believe they are in danger, which many abuse victims have done. Here in the U.S., several women have been dealing with online abuse surrounding the GamerGate issue. That includes rape and death threats, which have forced developers and cultural critics like Brianna Wu and Anita Sarkeesian to flee their homes and cancel appearances.

Last year, Caroline Criado-Perez, a freelance journalist who successfully spearheaded a campaign to have author Jane Austen featured on a new version of the £10 note, was subjected to rape threats. She proposed a Twitter boycott until the micro-blogging service offered a "troll solution." Eventually, Twitter added a "report" button and updated its terms to call out targeted abuse.

For more, see It's Time to Start Fining Internet Trolls.

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