I read about the verdict in this cyber-bullying case,
A Los Angeles federal jury today convicted a Missouri mother of misdemeanor charges in the nationally watched MySpace cyber-bullying case involving the suicide of a 13-year-old girl. But the jury rejected more serious felony charges against Lori Drew.
Drew, 49, was accused of violating federal computer statutes and one count of conspiracy for creating the MySpace account in the name of a fictitious 16-year-old boy and using it to engage in an online relationship with 13-year-old Megan Meier.
Meier, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, after the fictitious boy, “Josh Evans,” told her the world would be a better place without her, prosecutors alleged.
and thought of a comment made by Jeromy Brown at this post:
to be honest, too deranged and dishonest to continue besmirching the Earth’s good soil and air with your existence
I have to admit that when Jeromy wrote that, I was shocked. Not because of the stupidity behind such hyperbole, but because it wouldn't occur to most people to write things like that, particularly over political disagreement.
Fortunately, I'm not a 16-year-old who doesn't realize there are lots of sadistic people out there in the world who like to hide behind the anonymity of the internet to say things that would get them, at the very least, a punch in the nose in real life. The slap on the wrist Drew received is outrageous.
I've seen a lot of bizarre things in the 10 years I've been trolling around the internet. I've always found it amazing the way people see anonymity as permission to behave in the most horrible fashion possible, usually over things that are not all that important. There are untold numbers of women bloggers, for example, who have been threatened with violence of every sort, and have been called crybabies or victims for pointing out the despicable nature of such acts. But these comments aren't acceptable in a civilized society, and most people recognize that.
Of course, there are whiners who behave as though such cyberbullying is directed only at them for saying unpopular things. Unfortunately, it's becoming de rigeur on the internet, so it does lose its potency after, say, the 500th attack of this nature. But even so, the Drew case should make people aware that these words, which would be actionable if said or written in real life, should not be tolerated in cyberspace.
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