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Tina Meier holds two pictures of her
daughter, Megan, who committed
suicide last October.
daughter, Megan, who committed
suicide last October.
Woman Charged in MySpace Suicide Case
May 16, 2008 5:03 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Missouri resident Lori Drew was indicted on Thursday for her role in using a fake MySpace profile to bully a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide.
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The fake profile was used to convince Megan Meier that she was exchanging messages with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Drew, 49, is the mother of a classmate who had had a falling-out with Meier.
After receiving cruel messages from “Josh,” the clinically depressed teenager hanged herself in her bedroom.
Salvador Hernandez, the assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, told the Associated Press that Drew is responsible for her actions, even if she could not have known the consequences.
“The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl’s weaknesses,” said Hernandez.
Authorities are charging Drew with violating MySpace’s terms of service, but some experts say that the indictment sets a “scary” legal precedent.
“In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are resorting to a novel and dangerous interpretation of a decades-old computer crime law—potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms of service of any Web site,” writes Wired magazine.
Cyberbullying is on the rise, according to parents and educators. In response to concerns about cybersafety, MySpace and Facebook recently established new safety policies to aid parents in monitoring their kids’ online activities.
After receiving cruel messages from “Josh,” the clinically depressed teenager hanged herself in her bedroom.
Salvador Hernandez, the assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, told the Associated Press that Drew is responsible for her actions, even if she could not have known the consequences.
“The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl’s weaknesses,” said Hernandez.
Authorities are charging Drew with violating MySpace’s terms of service, but some experts say that the indictment sets a “scary” legal precedent.
“In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are resorting to a novel and dangerous interpretation of a decades-old computer crime law—potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms of service of any Web site,” writes Wired magazine.
Cyberbullying is on the rise, according to parents and educators. In response to concerns about cybersafety, MySpace and Facebook recently established new safety policies to aid parents in monitoring their kids’ online activities.
Headline Link: Woman indicted in Missouri MySpace suicide case
Lori Drew has been indicted for her alleged role in helping to create a false MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was talking to a 16-year-old boy.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Associated Press)
Opinion & Analysis: Legal implications
Although authorities initially could not find a law under which to charge Drew, they eventually built a case by charging her with violating the site’s terms of service. Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the case a “novel and extreme reading” of the law. “To say that you’re violating a criminal law by registering to speak under a false name is highly problematic. It’s probably an unconstitutional reading of the statute.” MySpace says that it supports the authorities.
Source: Wired
Related Topics: Cyberbullying, cybersecurity, and sexual predators online
Adults and teachers are struggling to deal with cyberbullying, which experts say is the fastest-growing form of bullying. Illinois lawmakers are considering a law to make it a crime. “This is the new bullying,” said Gilda Ross, a guidance counselor at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn. “It’s much uglier and much more hurtful."
Source: The Daily Herald
Students are now using the Internet to harass their teachers. A Charlotte, N.C., student recently ran into trouble for posting a link suggesting that a teacher was a pedophile on a Facebook message board. “This year, the four or five cyberbullying cases I’ve had have all involved student-on-teacher. It seems to be a new trend,” said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools detective Kenny Lynch.
Source: T.H.E. Journal
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Internet Security provides the best online resources for safeguarding against Internet predators of all types.
Source: findingDulcinea
Forbes reports on “the state of cybersecurity.” Experts say that parents and children can take small measures to protect themselves when using social networks. In January of this year, MySpace agreed to establish new safety policies, including creating a tutorial for parents and adding a tool that lets parents determine if their child has a MySpace profile. Facebook agreed to add similar measures in May.
Source: Forbes
In an effort to protect children against sexual predators on social networking Web sites, New York’s 25,000 sex offenders will now be required to register their online identities to the state. Gov. David A. Paterson signed the law on Wednesday. “The Internet has become a playground for sexual predators,” said Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, the author of Megan’s Law, which established the state’s first sex offender registry.
Source: Newsday
Reference: Social networking advice for parents
In discussing how to keep children safe online, experts advise parents to strike a balance between informing their children about safety issues and giving them the freedom that they need to become individuals.
Source: MSNBC
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Web Sites Parent Should Know About instructs adults about kids’ favorite sites. They’re popular and fun, but some of the most intriguing sites can be dangerous for kids, especially tweens and teens. It’s important for parents to help keep their kids safe online.
Source: findingDulcinea
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Social Networking will familiarize users with sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Online social networks take the idea of connecting with others and make it digital. Whether it is for fun, business, romance, or something else, more and more people are interacting over the Web.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
