http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malicious_Communications_Act_19...

What this actually appears to be doing is extending the maximum prison sentence under this act from six months to two years.

Note: the above act is for England and Wales only - I wonder if there is equivalent legislation for NI and here in Scotland.

There also the Communications Act 2003 which seems to be UK wide and covers "Malicious communications":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Act_2003#Malicio...

The latter has had a lot of criticism:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/27/law-cri...