Cyberbullying on Facebook
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Loading ...A teenager from New York has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, four high-school classmates who used the site to harass her, and their parents. Specifically, two boys and two girls created a Facebook group called password-protected “90 Cents Short Of A Dollar,” in order to “hold [her] up to public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Content service providers are not liable for statements posted within their site by users because of the Communications Decency Act, and so I don’t believe Facebook will be required to do anything. This case does, however, once again demonstrate how civil actions can be filed in order to at least send a message to individuals that victims will not take cyberbullying lying down. Nationwide, it may also prompt more litigation in the same vein, and has led to some of the first media attention we’ve seen covering Facebook-based harassment. Do you think this case has any leg to stand on? What if the victim was able to demonstrate severe emotional and psychological harm? If that were the case, should the law be amended to require content service providers to police the postings of their users? These questions tend to surface in many cyberbullying cases, and this one gives us another chance to talk it out….
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March 7th, 2009 at 12:22 am
SOME WOMEN AND A MAN DID THE SAME THING TO ME. EXCEPT THE FAKE MYSPACE WAS OF ME AND THEY STOLE REAL STUFF OFF MY REAL PAGE. THEN THEY USED THE FAKE ONE TO WRITE THEMSELVES LETTERS THAT WERE HORRIBLE TO HAVE ME PUT INTO JAIL. THEY DIDN’T COME TO COURT SO THE DA KNEW THEY COMMITTED PERJURY BUT STILL DIDN’T CHARGE THEM. MYSPACE DIDN’T CARE. I WROTE THEM SEVERAL TIMES WITH NO RESPONSE EXCEPT FOR THEY FOUND THE PAGE AND IT WILL BE DELETED. THE PEOPLE CONTINUED TO WRITE ME CALLING ME HORRIBLE NAMES AND THEN STARTED WRITING SAYING THEY ARE SORRY???? I STILL HAVE THE LETTERS BUT THE DA DOESN’T CARE. I STARTED TO KILL MYSELF BUT ENDED UP THE DR WANTED ME IN THE HOSPITAL BUT INSTEAD PUT ME ON MANY PILLS. NOW I CAN’T SEE HARDLY AT ALL-SIDE EFFECTS. I ALSO HAD TO HELP MY DAUGHTER GET $2000 SO SHE COULD MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE BECAUSE THEY HAD STARTED WRITING AND THREATENING HER. THEY KEPT TRYING TO GET HER TO AD THEM AND STUFF. I BELIEVE IT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE PUBLIC AND THE MONTGOMERY DA WOULD HAVE GOT THE IP ADDRESS OF THE ACCOUNT THEY WOULD HAVE HAD PROOF TO CHARGE THESE PEOPLE. IT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE PUBLIC MAYBE THESE PEOPLE WOULDN’T HAVE HAD THE TÁNAISTE TO DO THIS TO THIS LITTLE GIRL. I KNOW HOW SHE FELT THAT DAY I STILL FEEL IT. PLUS THEY MADE ME LOOK LIKE THE BAD GUY WHEN THEY ARE THE REAL CRIMINAL AND THE DA CAN GET PROOF JUST IP AND PHONE NUMBERS.?????DOESN’T ANYONE IN THIS WORLD CARE. I EVEN CALLED THE PRESS AND THEY DID NOTHING. I NEED A INEXPENSIVE GOOD LAWYER TO HELP ME PRESS A CIVIL CASE. I KNOW THE MENTAL PAIN THIS CHILD WENT THROUGH BECAUSE I HAVE FELT THE SAME PAIN FOR THE SAME REASON AND NOBODY CARES. ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS MONEY NOT GETTING JUSTICE. I WILL TAKE A POLYGRAPH!!! PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD ARE SO CRUEL AND EVIL. JOYCE ELAINE REAVES OSWALD OF RUTLEDGE, AL I wrote the first under the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Case in December. I have a lawyer now and she is taking this woman to trail for a cival case. Please help us start laws against this type of crime. Making fake profiles should be illegal, and all of this other stuff should also.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I think the internet, and what you write on it, should be governed by the same laws as slander and libel. Because the internet is a place of wide-spread publication, there is no reason to dismiss what is said on the internet, specifically if is a false/vicious remark about another person. The folks that hide behind the 1st amendment are the same ones that don’t teach their kids how to play nice in the sandbox, which is how we’ve reached the current state of affairs we are in regarding the matter. If parents were more forceful and saw what their kids were doing online and how they were treating others, maybe they could step in and stop it. But then again, if the parents of the bullies know what is happening and simply don’t care because their child is not the ‘victim,’ well, that’s just a sucky society.
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March 9th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Even though I have been doing some reading on this sort of topic, I am still in shock. I just don’t understand what can drive a young person to torture another classmate. I do think service providers should be held and hold people to a certain level on what they post. People will say anything online but those things said will never be said outloud, the internet creates almost a safe haven for people to speak there minds with no punishment.
March 11th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Well I have read some of the comments posted here and I must say that I disagree. To the woman who had things from her Myspace stolen I ask, why not delete these people from your friends list if they were not your friends? And kathy marie, to you I ask, why is it ok for you to state your opinion right now but it is not ok for others to do the same? You can criticize people’s parenting but you when others attempt to criticize you it is then rude and now illegal? Sounds to me like a double standard put in place to find a victim, and we all know how much America loves to see victims.
March 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I agree with John. If you cant take getting called a few names or whatever then you should just block the people who call you names or just dont have an account
March 17th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
The things people do to each other are pathetic. The actions stemming from the blackest depths of the human soul are uncalled for, and purely selfish. Take comfort, my friends who’ve been victimized, in the thought that these people will end up lonely and alone in their world of self-centered pleasure. But also recognize that we are all guilty of the kind of pleasure that they get from tormenting you. The pleasure you get from someone else’s displeasure is readily available in every aspect of life. The only difference between ourselves and animals is that we have the ability to ignore our “programming”. We can choose to be nice to each other. It is those people who want to incite war that are stopping us from evolving into our cooperative collective. KenS: These bullies are the product of a lack of parenting. Parents that don’t do anything and consistently expose their children to unhealthy, violent situations create monsters that screw up society. We need to accept that some of our kind are in fact a disease to our own race. I’m sure to anyone viewing our species from the outside would want to do away with us because of these foolish humans who don’t care and who are sadly the majority of us. Kathy Marie: You are correct. The internet provides a barrier between the aggressor and their victim which allows them to face no immediate guilt or consequence of their actions. It only proves they are cowardly and should be stated as such. John Johnson:Have you ever heard of the term “Frenemy”? Basically–though I haven’t actually looked the definition up myself–its someone who pretends to be your friend when really they are attempting to gain your trust so they can hurt you. It is possible this person did not know they were her enemies. Do not give advice unless you know the entirety of the story. There is an extreme difference between civilly stating an opinion, as Kathy is clearly doing here, and flaming someone to death. First of all if these victims, and they are in fact victims, had asked for any ones opinion you might be obliged to state it, but until asked they should keep their thoughts to themselves. John and Mike: You both must be completely ignorant and uncaring and as logical as you are attempting to sound, John, your logic is flawed. We have all been taught what right and wrong is. It doesn’t necessarily even have to be taught you just know. You know when something is wrong. In actuality, no one has the right to criticize someone else unless the person they are targeting has done things that warrant it. Reasons that a person can’t help are never a good target for criticism because it says more about the person targeting them than the actual target (for instance that they are ignorant, cowardly, and an embarrassment to our species). The the case of Lauren Newby, I was disgusted and embarrassed to be the same species as the person(s) that terrorized her. No one deserves that mistreatment.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I hate cyber bullying it is out rags.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
WOW, i know exactly how you guys feel. i get the worst honesty box messages. and people create horrible groups that people join because they arent sure what it is. and it to all the people that hate me. and it drives me insane!
March 19th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I am a bothered by the comment that was posted stating, “that if you can’t take getting called a few names or whatever then just block”.
The point is that the you can’t always block what or who is posting online. Knowing that there is terrible and often times false information being published, with the intent to hurt, is an awful feeling. The internet is a place that people all over the world access, and when discriminating things are posted you never know just how many people have or will see. It has a very strong emotional effect on people and I do not feel that telling someone to get over it is the right thing to say.
We are a very technologically savy world and the ways in which people are abusing those technologies is appalling. We need to be aware that this truly is a problem and that we need to support those who have been violated online.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:39 am
i completly agrre with john on this one
March 28th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I signed up to website that I need for specialist answers. After setting out my question, the first answer was something like ‘You are a pathetic pr*ck’. I ignored that and got a couple of useful answers so I persevered. I noticed after a while that the same 4 middle aged women were following me from forum to forum and leaping in and saying I was condecending or sexist or a troll – all sorts of accusations. I made the mistake of challenging them and saying it was unfair. I didnt swear back at them but I put up a spirited defence and it got heated. Eventually the site administrator (The boss) got involved and said that I hadnt been offensive to her or anyone but I should move to an ‘anything goes forum’ if my subject was controversial. (It wasnt)
I dont like swearing and name calling so I didnt go that ‘anything goes forum’ and it all calmed down. Then I was lulled back in and had a good enjoyable day discussing technical stuff with various members. Then 24 hours later the 4 women descended into a forum on machine gun triggers – something they were not interested in I am sure – together taking turns, using abuse and name calling and backed each other up.
One other member cried foul and was sent a personal nessage to invite her to join the others in beating on me.
Eventully one of the women who was a ‘moderator’ !!! on the site (2 of them were actually moderators)said I had a personality problem, I was mentally ill, I had no friends and my neighbours hated me.
The site rules say that nobody can criticise or even mention moderators so there was no way to complain
I was really upset at all this and thought of just packing it in – but I have decided to stay and calmly point out what they are doing so that future members might be spared. I wont spend much time there though as it is wearing. I have checked to make sure it isnt just me and it isnt – they hunt other people, usually older males, and they all turn up at once in a forum and attack as a group – sometimes taking over the thread and talking about baking or something.
If these are moderators, what chance does someone have ? I am 61 – imagine a young teenager getting involved in all that stuff – it would wreck their schoolwork and depress them and perhaps worse
May 15th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
The astounding power of Facebook is that in a blink it can engage so many strangers to harass a person he/she doesn’t even know … just for the fun of it!! So that that person all the sudden finds him or herself surrounded (literally, everyone in the neighborhood, school, workplace, places frequented, can’t escape it, people known, people unknown to the person) by people in on the harassment “fun”. Using Facebook in combination with organized SMS and twitter networks to scapegoat a person makes it possible to be especially “clever” and strategic, doubling the “fun”. And gets even more people engrossed in the mob “fun”. Thank you Facebook and Twitter for elevating our society and giving losers such a redeeming way of injecting some “fun” into their lives and feeling good about themselves!! Especially “fun” to do to women … but also “fun” to do to men!
June 15th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I say tell the admins to give the whole group the banhammer.