Scope and Limitations in the Government of Wales Act 2006 for Tackling Internet Abuses in the Form of ‘Flame Trolling’ JONATHAN BISHOP* Introduction Devolution has had a significant impact on the differences between the way legislation is constructed and implemented in the nations and regions of the British Isles that form part of the United Kingdom. It is known that the ever-increasing divergence of such legislation is leading to new legislative regimes that will mean that policies on talking ‘mis-behaviour’ will differ significantly over time. 1 A search of the news archives of one of these nations in particular, Wales, including The Western Mail, South Wales Echo, South Wales Evening Post, found over 700 articles that could be linked to internet abuse. Of these articles, there were 36 instances of the Welsh Assembly being mentioned and none of these re- lated to tackling Internet abuse. One of the few references to information tech- nology specifically was when the then education Minister, Jane Davidson, was reported as saying that Welsh Government (WG)’s decision to spend £24m on IT equipment for schools over three years would ensure all pupils had a chance to develop skills needed. This clearly shows the lack of priority of tackling Internet abuse as distinct from other forms of offline bullying. In fact, it is known that its drive to ensure schools have effective anti-bullying policies affects the extent to which traditional forms of bullying occur at those schools in Wales. 2 Indeed, it is * Electronic Law for Internet Empowerment Group, Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems, The European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium. 1 K Reid ‘Management of School Attendance in the UK’ [2010] 38(1) Educational Management Administration & Leadership 88. 2 P Lambert et al. ‘The Social Context of School Bullying: Evidence from a Survey of Children in South Wales’ [2008] 23(3) Research Papers in Education 269. 207 Statute Law Review 33(2), 207–216, doi:10.1093/slr/hms016 © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com Advance Access Publication April 21, 2012