New York teenager, Denise Finkel has sued Facebook for $3 million because, she claims, it carried a fictitious Facebook chat group to bully, ostracize, ridicule, abuse and disgrace her. The lawsuit states that former high school classmates, Michael Dauber, Jeffrey Schwartz, Leah Herz, and Melinda Danowitz created the chat room in which they falsely claimed that she had “inappropriate conduct with animals,†and had AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.
Of course there will be a lot of furor over whether any or all of the accused four did it and whether Facebook is liable for content that’s not obviously pornographic. Did Finkel complain to Facebook and did Facebook turn a deaf ear to Finkel’s complaints? And are the four people guilty as accused?
I want to focus on two related areas that I think are more important in the long run.
The first is making new laws in response to new crimes, especially using new technology. The natural way that we make new laws begins when some people commit acts not specifically covered under the old laws that have terrible consequences. We respond by specifically labeling those new actions as crimes, and attach what we feel are appropriate criminal penalties. Then we see, by trial-and-error, where to draw better lines. The system is inevitably slow, inefficient and never perfect.
Given the increasing number of lives ruined by cyber bullying, emotional harassment and abuse, especially in schools, and the number of suicides stimulated by cyber bullying, I think that our society will make laws specifically stating that false and malicious statements and postings, in addition to pornography, are illegal. I don’t think we’ll hold carriers like Facebook, MySpace, etc. liable for their postings. But I think we’ll hold them liable for ignoring complaints about specific chat groups and postings that they continue to carry.
Many states and school districts, including Kansas, Oregon and California are considering such laws to protect children and teenagers from cyber bullying.
One stumbling block in making such laws is where to draw the lines and the hidden assumption that cyberbullying laws can and should be made “just right†for all situations – never too lax, never too harsh. But the letter of the laws can never cover all situations with “just right†justice. We always depend on human wisdom in the law’s application to specific situations. That’s just the way it is – for better or for worse.
And I think that in this area, safety should triumph over cyber freedom.
The second area I want to focus on is parenting for the specific situations involving our kids and teenagers. Our job is to monitor our children:
- Do they look like they’re having a hard time (maybe being attacked by cyberbullies)? How can we help them stop bullying on their own or do we need to intervene?
- Are they witnessing cyber bullying and are they struggling to know whether or how to intervene?
- Are they cyber bullies? How do we stop them and help them develop the character to make amends and do better next time?
- Should they even be on MySpace or Facebook or any social networking sites? What else would be a better use of their time and energy?
And of course there are no easy solutions. No one is really dumb enough to think there’s an easy solution.
There are no safe environments. Schools and the real world have never been safe. Schools and social networks are testing grounds for the real world. And the real world is not and should not be safe. Facing risks and danger helps us develop good sense, good character and the qualities necessary to survive. Imagine growing up on a farm, in a wilderness village or in the middle ages. Not safe. I grew up in New York City. Not safe. Millennia ago we had to learn what a saber-toothed tiger’s foot prints looked like and how long ago they were left. The world still requires survival skills, even if different ones.
Our job as a parent is to teach our children the skills and grit to survive in whichever jungle or battleground they live, and to protect them when they’re over-matched.
Resource Cited: http://www.newsday.com/iphone/ny-liface0312510748mar03,0,2290035.story
Ben Leichtling, Ph.D. is author of the books and CDs “How to Stop Bullies in Their Tracks,†“Parenting Bully-Proof Kids†and “Eliminate the High cost of Low Attitudes.†He is available for coaching, consulting and speaking. To find practical, real-world tactics to stop bullies and bullying at home, school, work and in relationships, see his web site (http://BulliesBeGone.com ) and blog (http://BulliesBeGoneBlog.com ).
9 users commented in " Cyber bullying Lawsuit: Facebook versus Teenager "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWow! Interesting stuff. I read about this last week and put it on Twitter. I agree, the world is not safe but as adults, we should try and keep children safe. The internet is definately not the safest place and social sites are of no exception.
Thanks for writing and speaking out on this serious subject Ben. Every bit helps in fighting this serious problem.
IANAL but from what I have read, the law is fairly strong on defamation, provided you can get the identity.
I think the real problem is the cost in finding the real identity.
A full legal proceeding to gain the information to then take a minor to trial just to get content removed is silly.
Nice article. Cyber bullying is really dangerous for teenagers. The State must come up with good laws in this regard and merely linking it with some traditional crime would be of no use. As far as the liability of facebook is concerned we have to see many aspects including the knowledge about the posting as well as lack of due diligence on the part of the Facebook.
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for your comment.
I know you also work to keep the internet as safe as we can, knowing that it can never be any safer than crossing the street.
Bullies will use anything they can get their hands on to hurt people.
Best wishes,
Ben
Hi Andy,
I may be oblivious, but I think if we had specific national laws defining internet crimes of the kind we’re talking about, and requiring sites like Facebook and MySpace or ISPs to release names to police for investigation of those crimes, we’d be able to get the real identities of the perpetrators.
Of course, some clever people will go to great lengths to leave a trail that’s hard to follow, but most of the abuse we’ve seen, like the mother who went after Megan who committed suicide last year, and the others here, was by people who did not cover their tracks well.
Is there something I’m missing?
Best wishes,
Ben
Hi Cathy,
I think that since the internet is nation, we’ll need national laws instead of state laws.
Of course, it’s global, but we can’t make other countries have laws we like.
I’d keep my kids off the social sites, even though that won’t protect them 100 percent.
Best wishes,
Ben
My niece is being bulling at the moment in her HS and in facebook. I even posted a comment telling the kids to stop else i would call their parents and sue them, but they keep on. She is now transfering schools on a month before it’s over.
Hi Anne,
Get a lawyer and go for publicity!
Good luck,
Ben
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