All humans are malicious, offensive or deceitful in their speech at least sometimes. At severe levels it can kill.

Various countries have criminalized "cyberbullying" and "cyberstalking" after teenagers targeted with threats, sexploitation or other hate speech committed suicide. Ireland, for example, introduced the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act in 2021. Australia's Hate Crimes Bill of 2024 created new offences for hateful speech that threatens violence or incites discrimination.

New Scientist says: "In Australia … one in five young people reported in 2017 that they had been socially excluded, threatened or abused online…" In December 2025 Australia introduced laws that barred 2.5 million children from social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram and Snapchat to protect them from the bullying, grooming, hate and harassment that had led some to suicide.

Malicious communication occurs in the form of lies, scams, threats or expletives. The Australian Communications and Media Authority reported that Australia's telecommunications companies (Telstra, Optus, Vodaphone) blocked 2400 million scam calls and 897 million scam SMS (Short Message Service) since mid-2022.

Much damage is done also by "Trolls" — people using false identities on social media to humiliate, defame, deceive, manipulate or offend.

Expletives that refer to excretion, sex or anatomy are taboo in most societies or used to be. Amanda Laugesen in Rooted (2020) provides a history of profanity in Australia from convict-settlers times to now.

Atheists argue that "people create gods after their own image". But the Bible is different. It counsels against obscenity, lies and hate, and has opposed popular malignant standards for thousands of years: