Space is roleplay. The rest is just multiplayer notepad.
Everything that is an interaction between two characters is roleplay.
Doing things in space is good and should be done where possible, but that is not and should not be the extent of all RP or things would be rather dull, since most stuff in EVE space is rather dull and has no impact.
True impact in RP happens when the opposing side consents to it. Ergo, whether in "multiplayer notepad" or "in space", both cases you only have an effect if the opposing player chooses to allow you to have an effect. If they don't, it's just violencing boats which is pointless on its own.
I started RPing in forums. Visual mediums are a nice addition to the storytelling potential, but they shouldn't be a complete replacement of it. That being said, in a full-time IC game like EVE, you should avoid doing things that contradict what happens in space and if an action can be done in space then it absolutely should be done in space. But if two players choose to do something in "multiplayer notepad", something that can't be done in space, and both consent to it, then it is every bit as valid as something in space. As long as something has left an effect on the characters involved then it is significant.
Still I feel as if this isn't actually going to go anywhere. Nothing is going to evoke the seemingly desired sense of shock and outrage, and this will quickly pass from record. There's no meat to it, nothing to keep it interesting, no way to hunt down the villain, its just seemingly someone posting snuff films for the sake of it in an attempt to be hip and edgy.
Because, as said above, the players are choosing not to let it have an effect on them.
At least for me, this thing had an even bigger visceral impact on Sami than, say, Nauplius's things, for the same reason that there's a significant emotional variation between hearing about a hundred deaths somewhere and seeing someone kill someone directly in front of your eyes on a video (which is, as I understand it, what the original post was intended to be).
But then, for me, a killmail saying "Slaves x10,000" versus a well-written and graphic murder scene? The latter will generate much more feels for me.
RP only ever has as much impact as people let it have.