Cyberbullying: Reactions and Thoughts on Regulation

Following a post by Audrey Blake about cyber bullying, I’ve found myself thinking about many of the issues she raised, and I’ve been particularly curious about what can be done to stop and regulate the issue. Audrey posted a link to the Megan Meier foundation, and as I read through Megan’s tragic story, I was struck by the numerous issues that arise as we try to prosecute people for cyber bullying. I think it is easy to agree that something should be done, but I wonder how we deal with the complications of legal and social elements that are tied with this bullying. And things are further complicated as more than just students are becoming involved with this very negative treatment.

Megan’s story highlights how difficult it is to prosecute someone who is acting online, and it raises questions about how we criminalize what we do online. Megan’s suicide was prompted by her friend (with her friend’s parents!) creating a false MySpace account and using it to create a false identity to find out information about Megan and to bully her. The issue with the case was that even after the suicide, how can a link be made with online and offline actions and to prove that the online actions were actually what caused Megan’s death? I was glad to hear that, “In May [2007], a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, where MySpace.com has its headquarters, indicted Drew [Megan’s friend’s mother] on charges of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress — in other words, violating MySpace’s terms of use by faking an identity.”

I firmly believe that our actions online must both be treated and prosecuted to the same extent as any action we do offline. But the legal technicalities are still very tricky. After having done more research on story, local prosecutors originally concluded that there was no law addressing Drew’s behavior, and they declined to press charges for her role in Megan’s suicide. But thankfully a court was able to convict Drew on some charge rather than letting her go completely free.

Growing up, I definitely heard about the issue of cyber bullying, although it was something that I never really thought applied to me. School officials had stated that they would not tolerate it, and I remember hearing about different schools throughout the country taking steps to act against the demoralizing effects of this bullying. But I wonder how much we need to regulate through policy and how much should be raising awareness of the very real effects of the bullying. I think it is vital to emphasize that although the bullying is not happening face to face, the effects can still be life changing and just as damaging as physical violence. And maybe these psychological effects are even more demoralizing and vicious.

I believe that more than just students, their parents or school officials must understand the very horrible effects of these actions. Through raising awareness of the very real effects of digital bullying, we can help prevent many of these cases. And I was glad to see that there are means of doing this, such as the ABC family movie Audrey mentions. But I think we also need to ensure that the law is able to deal with the after effects, and that there is policy that is in place when cyberbullying does occur. Although Megan’s bullies were eventually convicted of some crime, I think there should be clearer rules to persecute these online crimes for the actual crime they commit. Identity should not change, no matter where crime is committed, and cyberbullying is no exception. Every state needs clearer laws to address this situation (and every state doesn't have them!), and we need to continue to raise awareness on the issue for more than just school age children. I do believe that even those of us without our own children (or siblings) who might be cyberbullied have a duty to help make the internet a safer place for everyone.