Will Online Harassment Law Be Used Against Those Harassing Lori Drew?
from the irony-alert dept
The story of the Missouri girl who committed suicide after being insulted by a fake child created by some neighbors keeps getting odder. As you may recall, the police decided (reasonably) that Lori Drew, the woman who participated in setting up and using the fake profile, was found not to have committed a crime. However, the town where they live recently passed a new law against online harassment, which seemed like a kneejerk reaction more than anything else. Still, the law was clearly directed at actions like those of Drew, Drew's daughter and another friend. However, in something of a twist, it now appears that this new law may actually be used against the hordes of folks now attacking Drew and her family online. Remember that a bunch of online vigilantes have taken it upon themselves to harass Drew for her participation in the hoax that resulted in the suicide -- even setting up a fake blog supposedly written by Drew trying to justify the actions. Drew insists she has nothing to do with the blog and it's part of the harassment campaign against her. While it does seem somewhat ironic that a law that was put in place basically because of Drew's actions may now be used to protect her, the lengths that these vigilantes are going to shows yet another example of just how far online mobs can go when they decide they want justice.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: harassment, irony
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Spell Checker 1, Mike 0
:)
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The fact that tecdirt confirms this act as reasonable makes it much more reassuring - you can' trust all those professionals who spend years studying law, blogger expertise is much preferable.
Also a clear recognition that a law is a "kneejerk" law and not a proper one and that is ironically protects those who techdirt recognises as underserving enhances things immensely. There is no irony in the fact that online mobs are criticised by those other experts of the online - the bloggers.
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Re:
Again, you are free to disagree, but just because someone "blogs" it doesn't mean they somehow are defined as "bloggers" or that they have no basis for their opinion. If that were the case, I could equally mock you for being an Anonymous Coward commenter. After all, who trusts them?
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Re: Online Harassment of Lori Drew
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I have followed this case...
It is horrible this girl had so little self-esteem as to take her own life over a cruel joke. I hope the mob keeps harassing this horrible family for at least a few years.
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Re: I have followed this case...
She never told the girl to kill herself. This just goes with natural selection. The smart and strong survive, while the stupid who think that hanging themselves will solve anything end up not passing on their genes to the next generation for the good of the species.
Was it cruel? Yes.
Was it a crime? No.
Am I a cynic? You bet.
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Re: Re: I have followed this case...
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Re: Re: I have followed this case...
That being said, I hope the Drews live in fear for their safety for many years to come, especially the safety of their precious little girl. I would honestly laugh if I were to hear that the Drews had a home invasion and every member was gang raped repeatedly, then tortured and slowly killed like the pigs they are. Because sometimes justice works much better WITHOUT the law impeding it. Or "Here it's not justice, it's JUST US"
It's not just 13 year old girls that are susceptible to suicide due to peer pressure. If you do a little digging(and only a little is needed) you will find a variety of ages, sexes and lifestyles of people who will commit suicide or murder/suicide when their world is pulled out from under them.
Here's a list:
Budd Dwyer, Comedian Phil Hartman's wife(and himself), Christine Chubbuck, a few of those priests accused of molestation, Daniel Jones, the list goes on and on and on
Some of these people were very powerful and very smart and then suddenly they had nothing else to live for. Unfortunately for Megan, this wasn't even something she did, as it was in Dwyer's case, it was a hoax intended to emotionally harm. If I find your deepest fear, create a small community to welcome you as the best friends you've ever had and put you on a pedestal then when the community plays on your fear and turns on you, you will suddenly find yourself in despair. This is why so many feared excommunication from the Church; to be ostracized was to take away not simply a friend or two but their entire support network.
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Libel
It's still not illegal to be a jerk, this town excepted.
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Shame?
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Do tell, what is your background in education, what holes do you have punched in your card?
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It's like free speech. Protecting speech that you agree with is easy; the test is protecting vile and hateful speech.
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Lacking Parenting Skills
And ... I thought that harassment was a criminal offense. Just because it occurred online changes nothing.
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What?
That is exactly the sort of mentality that scares the crap out of me.
I know people to tend to exaggerate online but to find humour or solace in the unnecessary pain and suffering of another human being is absolutely disgusting and should be abhorred by every decent person on this planet.
Rape and torture are NEVER acceptable and NEVER FUNNY!
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This has been blown way out of proportion. It was a case of online bullying. Granted, it came from an adult, but none-the-less a bully. What Drew did was wrong, but no worse than what these people are doing to her. It is sad that the girl took her life because she was "dumped" by a fictional boy, but it wasn't Drew who made the decision, it was Megan. If anything, the blame should be placed on Megan's parents. Who would let their child become that unstable?
Think this through. Was what Drew did any worse that what the kids do on the playground during recess? Should we start getting mobs together and attacking high school bullies? Or how about the jerk at the bar?
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Re:
If the law was made after Mrs. Drew's case, then there is nothing to debate over. It doesn't matter if it would have "gotten her in trouble". The fact is, it is doing its job by protecting her. End of story.
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About that harassment case...
Am just suggesting this in case no one else thought of this. Don't want to encourage people to keep harassing Lori either. It's just that for those who do demand some kind of additional justice, this could be one possible -legal- solution. But bullying a bully? Bad idea...
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If the state fails in its contract with the people to pursue justice, the people will do it on their own.
Ms. Drew, contrary to the beliefs of the operators of this site, deserves serious jail time for her actions in the death of the little girl. Adults are not allowed to bully children either in person or on line. If the state will institute justice, the people will. And it will be in the only form a mob can exact justice (someone most likely the deserved Ms Drew) is going to get hurt. THe state by not trying Ms. Drew is harming both the sense of justice we all have, and putting Ms. Drews life in danger.
Sorry Mike, I am with the Mob here. The woman deserves serious jail time, and the states obligation is to provide it.
Sometimes the mob is right.
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Re:
I realize the situations are not the exact same, but it is the same idea. If you commit suicide, it isn't right to blame it on someone else. Many teenagers commit suicide every year, sometimes for things as little as being dumped. Should the dumper be punished because the dumpee's mind was that unstable? Are you going to put everyone of those people in jail?
I think the main reason this has gotten so out of hand is because it was an adult being the bully. Had it been a child, it probably wouldn't have the same reaction.
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Re: Re:
I think the main reason this has gotten so out of hand is because it was an adult being the bully. Had it been a child, it probably wouldn't have the same reaction.
That is the point. Children bullying children is different, but the minute an adult steps in a becomes the bully it should be criminal. Beside, Megan was emotional upset, Lori KNEW she was emotionally upset and what does she say? "The world would be better off without you." She is an evil woman and is responsible for that child's death.
There is question as to whom actually did the talking with Megan. Lori claims it was her girls after about the fourth time she talked to Megan, but the chats looked very similar throughout the entire ordeal. I believe Lori is lying and is completely responsible for her actions.
Now do I want to wish Lori and her family physical harm? No, or course not, but a couple years of verbal and online harassment might bring about the justice that state obviously dropped the ball on. If Lori had been verbally harassing Megan (face-to-face) and the same thing happened, Lori would be in jail.
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edited for correction
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harass away
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Lori Drew is a Predator - Period
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Drew in trouble
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