EOC, Week 2

Internet Hoax
Megan Meier’s was a mentally fragile 13 year old girl. For most of her young life she struggled with ADD, depression, and a weight problem. So when she first began her MySpace account her parents carefully watched as she befriended a young boy named Josh. The friendship grew over a six week period. What Megan and her parents didn’t know was that Josh was actually the 40 year old, Lori Drew, mother of Megan’s former friend. After several weeks of communication between the two Josh turned on Megan and began verbal harassment toward her. The fictional Josh called Megan fat, said she wasn’t a good person, and the world would be a better place without her. Broken and crushed a few days later Megan took her own life. The friend’s mother claims she only wanted to befriend Megan and find out what Megan was saying about her daughter. She never thought Megan would commit suicide. She never offered an apology or regret for what she had done to Megan.An FBI investigation was launched. . She was then charged with misdemeanor for violating MySpace Laws by obtaining personal information to inflict emotional distress on a teen .Since her death a 2006 law prohibits online harassment if it is under a pseudo name. Because she used a pseudo names she violated the agreements on MySpace. I felt that she was responsible for pushing this young girl over the edge. Whether she knew it or not this girl suffered from severe depression. With further research could this woman also be charged with even more including negligence? “Negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care necessary to protect others from risk.” (Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo, 50, 51). She didn’t consider the girls state of mind at the time of this incident. By provoking her and bullying her on the internet she was negligent. The woman could have also been charged with slander and or libel because she wrote insults on a public forum. Stating Megan was fat, and a bad person. “Slander is spreading of damaging words or ideas about a person directly or indirectly, in all other forms. “ Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo, 45). “Libel is the spreading of damaging statements in written form—including pictures, cartoons, and effigies (likeness). Defamation on radio, television, and websites is also considered libel.” (Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo, 45). What this woman did was wrong. She should be held responsible in some way for her behavior.