Do I have any legal recourse against trolls spamming my forum?

Question

I run a forum for supporters of a sports club. I often get supporters from a rival club coming in, creating a user, and spamming my forum, most often after we lose a big game, particularly if against a team they support. I ban them, but they keep coming back with new accounts.

By "spamming", I mean that they keep posting random shit, like pictures and GIFs ridiculing our club. Also a lot of swearing and insults.

Is this illegal? Can the authorities be involved in any way? The forum is international but US-based.

Note that I am asking out of curiosity. I don't expect this to be a practical approach in any way, and I also realize a better method is to simply secure my site better against repeat-offenders.

Answer 1

Owing to the First Amendment, in the United States your recourse would be limited to civil action based on violations of terms of service (meaning that "the authorities" are not going to knock on their doors to tell them to behave). This is not "spam" (which could be regulated) as the term is generally understood. It is annoying, but probably does not constitute threatening or child porn. It might involve violation of an anti-impersonation law such as this one from Texas, if the offender uses the persona of a real person as opposed to a fictitious person). That law, moreover, does not criminalize simple annoying. Prosecution may be possible in the UK.