On the acquittal of the adult in the Megan Meier cyberbullying case
Credit: Talweblog
Cases of online bullying (also called cyber-bullying) have been documented elsewhere (one of the most famous was that of renowned blogger Kathy Sierra and cyber-stalking). One of the most recent blows to any sort of legal recourse against cyber-bullying was the acquittal of the woman who created a fake MySpace account to cyber-bully then-13-yr-old Megan Meier. Sadly, Meier took her own life (apparently she struggled with depression as well).
What kind of adult would have the malice and ugliness of heart to do to Megan Meier what this woman did (or to any other child, for that matter) is something that escapes my comprehension. I am disgusted, saddened, sick to my stomach to say the least. I have very young family members whom I fiercely protect and with whom I have shared the insights and knowledge I’ve gained from studying social networking sites for the time that I’ve been involved in the social media community. I now know a lot about Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and Twitter, and that allows me to be able to watch out for my family and myself, as well as monitor potential danger for youth in my family who spend a substantial amount of time online. I get worried when I read about things like this and this.I have previously indicated in several of my talks that law and policy (particularly internet law) has always been and will always be behind in the times when it comes to the online space. Dr. Michael Geist (who is a Canada Research Law in Internet Law) has written extensively about the topic of internet law and copyright, particularly, but not too much about cyber-bullying laws. I found this post of his about Hedy Fry introducing a bill targeting cyber-bullying but not much has been done nor will be done in the near future. According to Wikipedia, California has introduced a bill (Assembly Bill 86 2008) focusing specifically on online targeting (bullying).
Helpful resources against cyber-bullying in Canada and elsewhere include Cyberbullying.ca, the Stop Cyberbullying campaign, the Wikipedia entry for cyber-bullying (as opposed to cyber-stalking) & the Be Web Aware Canadian site. Other friends of mine have written excellent posts about this topic, including Duane and Rebecca. Duane was the one who alerted me towards the acquittal of Meier’s cyber-bully.
While I agree that Drew’s acquittal has prevented some negative precedents in regards to who is responsible for the cyber-bullying and for which actions (apparently she was being sued for hacking MySpace, basically – check this Ars Technica article for more background), I am really heartbroken, because Megan Meier’s cyber-bully will never be brought to justice. And that’s really, really sad.
What do YOU think, my dear readers?
Related posts:
- Mangano on “The Business Case to End Homelessness”, @boardoftrade event
- A personal story on experiencing bullying first-hand (Guest post by Lois)
- BC Anti-Bullying Day (Wednesday Feb 25th, 2009)
- Jabu Bags – an empowerment project
- “Because I said so”: Authoritative opinions in a world of authorities
July 2nd, 2009 in
cyberbullying
I can’t believe that woman was acquitted!
The internet has changed drastically over the years and I’ve found it hard to change along with it. Before, I was going by internet “handles” that didn’t allude to my real name, my personal identity, or anything that could be used against me. Now, because of facebook, twitter, internet marketing, social media, etc., I’m finding myself more and more willing to put myself out there, but in a smart way.
Sadly, teenagers aren’t equipped with the tools and life skills needed to survive on the internet. You thought highschool was bad back then? When the worst that could happen was you’d get shoved into a locker (or get a wedgie… or get dunked in a toilet)? This is why I hate shows like Gossip Girl (I know, I know, bring on the flames) – it PROMOTES cyber bulling in my opinion. Shows like that tell kids it’s ok to text your best friend the latest piece of gossip without even thinking twice about how it might affect someone.
Lesley’s last blog post..Social Media – How do we use it?
What really saddens me is that clearly even the most severe possible outcome of cyber-bullying – DEATH – has not been enough to generate a solution to the problem. Drew may not have murdered Megan but she most certainly assisted with her suicide. The business losses and negative attention she has received are of her own making. They do not constitute actual punishment for her involvement in this young womans suicide – and she was involved as surely as if she had tightened that belt around Megan’s neck herself.
The problem goes much deeper IMHO than just direct cyber-bullying between individuals or groups of individuals. The Internet has made it possible to internationally ridicule anyone and everyone. I don’t know what the answer is to this, but for my own part I’ve chosen to stop watching/forwarding the viral videos, photographs and websites that promote the embarrassment and humiliation of people (exception was for you you, Raul for the purposes of this discussion). The 14-yr old Star Trek Kid was tormented for his behaviour (no, that YouTube account is not his regardless of what it says) and the wedding photos of the couple (she a large woman, and he a small buck-toothed man) from the Southern US that everyone has laughed over are, to me, just as egregious as setting up a fake account to embarrass and humiliate Megan.
There is a fine line … if I post a picture of myself doing something foolish and basically say “look at me please, point laugh and share this with your friends” then that is my choice to do so. But, if “you” post the same thing about me without my informed participation then I believe that is wrong. The problem is that society seems to think we have a right to embarrass and humiliate others for our own amusement regardless of the consequences to the individuals – it is a loss of basic civility. It is why so many people think it is OK for Cohen to embarrass and humiliate people via Borat and now Bruno – those are REAL people, not actors. Users of the Internet would be well served to keep the Golden Rule in mind when participating in viral cyber-bullying just because they think it is funny … Do Unto Others As you Would Have Done Unto You.
As with real-life bullying, I’m not sure regulations are helpful. Anonymous bullying is a problem as-is; criminalising bullying would simply drive it further underground, making it more difficult to track. Punishment alone would only deter those who are afraid of being caught. And you can’t ban information, regardless of whether it’s “good” or “bad”; the Internet has made sure of this.
So then what?
I think what’s needed is a whole-scale upgrade to our conventional wisdom. Barry Schwartz argues this more coherently than I can:
http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html
But what an ideal! Where should we start? By talking about these issues casually, with our family and friends, our colleagues (well, doc’s colleagues are necessarily skewed and self-selected, but for the rest of us it is important), and urging them to talk about it casually to their family, friends, and colleagues. (Having animated arguments on public transit doesn’t hurt either.)
Laws (and incentives) are inflexible and finite. Laws cannot be updated as quickly as the world changes, and they cannot cover all the possible permutations the world throws at us. What we need is a reinstatement of moral values that DRIVE these laws.
I stand by my opinion that the overturn is a good thing. Not because Megan does not deserve justice, or because Drew shouldn’t be convicted, but simply because of the legal ramifications of having such a verdict stand. We should not be blinded by our desire to serve justice and think carefully about the implications, and this is what I think the judge did. He was objective were many of us have a hard time keeping so.
I haven’t heard about this before reading on Duane’s blog and yours, but this is pretty shocking.
I’ve been the victim of cyber bullying myself, when I used to work at a couple different video game studios in Vancouver, I would receive random e-mails and Facebook messages with people telling me to kill myself, that they hate me, or that they took photos of me in the lobby of the building where I work etc. It’s scary stuff.
It’s bad that people think they can harass or threaten people online. It’s bad that our justice system is making a precedence that this kind of thing is okay.
Great post Raul, I have nothing more to say on the subject myself other than what you said, now that I’ve read up a bit on the topic.
VancityAllie’s last blog post..IN MY FAMILY’S GARDEN
I’m glad this conviction was overturned, but not because I have any sympathy or understanding for what this woman did to a vulnerable child. The conviction in this case had nothing to do with what Drew actually did wrong, and it would eventually have had serious ramifications for those of us who use our internet powers for good.
I also think that when you persist in blaming the tools for the harm that’s done, as opposed to the person wielding the tools, you only delude yourself to who/what is actually doing the harm.
What the bully in this case did was so completely reprehensible and irrisponsible, I’m surprised they weren’t able to charge her with something more relevant, like harassment. I also don’t understand why Megan’s parents haven’t moved forward with some sort of civil suit against the bullies, as an alternative to criminal charges.
Raul, I posted about this event back in 2007
http://iamlove.blogspot.com/2007/12/lori-drew-most-hated-woman-in-america.html
Although I do agree, that the charges were not related to the crime, I still sick feel sick that this woman has not legally suffered punishment.
However society has gone about crucifying her, and her reputation and dignity I am sure have been dragged through the mud. I hope her guilt haunts her to her death and beyond.