Ethical and Legal Issues

Jurisdiction: Who has it in cyberspace? How it relates to cyber-bullying.

So this post kind of deviates from the class content a little bit. The chapter discusses ethical and legal issues and jurisdiction more in terms of businesses and products, the Federal Trade Commission, digital property protection, cybersquatting, and fraud.

But with the advent of technology, the internet, social networking, mobile phones, etc, bullying has become an epidemic that follows kids home. I feel it's an important topic to discuss, so I'm going to use the information in the chapter to focus on cyber-bullying.

There was a time when bullying was done at school. It made getting out of bed in the morning difficult, but kids had the comfort of knowing that once they got home, they'd be free of their tormenters.

Not anymore (Thanks a lot, Facebook).

Now, social networking allows bully's to follow kids home, and insult them online, whether it be anonymous or under a false name. Or, for the more brazen bully, with full disclosure of their real names.

Kids can take pictures and videos on their phones at any time, and can use embarrassing footage against one another. If someone is getting picked on, someone else can record it and immediately upload it to Facebook. On Facebook, kids can write mean and nasty comments on the Facebook wall. Rumors now spread like wildfire. And, worst of all, once something is out there in cyberspace, it can never be taken back.

According to our textbook, new laws that can regulate the Internet are at a disadvantage, because laws are passed slowly, and the Internet is ever-changing. Laws are often rendered obsolete before they are even passed.

According to our book, there are four categories of invasion of privacy:
1. Unreasonable intrusion into the seclusion of another
2. Unreasonable publicity of another's private life
3. The appropriation of another's name or likeness
4. Publication of another's personal information in false light

When it comes to cyber-bullying, 2, 3, and 4 can all be applied. And there aren't very many ways to police bully's who harass others online.

The two biggest issues with cyber-bullying are:
1. Who has Jurisdiction? Who can be held responsible? The child? Their parent? The host site (such as Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo Mail, or AIM)? If a kid comments on a news story or a celebrity or company blog post or Facebook post, and someone from another state or country replies with scathing comments, what state should prosecute? In which state COULD you prosecute? And then's there's age... Do the laws that govern face-to-face bullying applying to internet bullying in respect to age?
2. How can we stop it, if kids won't come forward? Most kids are too embarrassed to come forward to their parents, teachers, and even their fellow peers, when they are faced with a bully. So how can it be stopped if the child in question doesn't tell someone?

Bullying is bad enough. Cyber-bullying is worse.

But what can we do to stop it?