The MySpace Suicide Case

[mr_pikachu]

You've probably heard about it at some point. In case you haven't, here's a brief summary: 49-year-old mother Lori Drew, whose daughter had a falling-out with 13-year-old Megan Meier, orchestrated a three-person plot to create a fake MySpace user named "Josh Evans." When the apparent romance between the fake boy and Meier turned hateful, Meier committed suicide.

Now, Drew's mother is on trial. (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/lori-drew-pla-1.html) Not for provoking Meier and pushing her to suicide, but for registering a MySpace account under a fake name - presumably, she couldn't be held criminally liable for the death itself.

But does this pursuit of justice go too far? (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/myspace-indictm.html) Could it severely inhibit legitimate internet use? Should falsely registering on the internet be a criminal offense? And, looking at this case in particular, does Lori Drew deserve to be punished?

Discuss.

[Blademaster]

But does this pursuit of justice go too far? (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/myspace-indictm.html)

Yes.

[Asilynne]

That mother is such a ho, I mean what a total bitch to want to get back at a 13 year old girl just because the daughters stopped being friends. How insecure do you have to be to do something like that? Someone never grew up >.>

I understand that she legally cant be tried for murder, I mean she didnt pull a trigger or anything, just set up the events that led to suicide >.> But she knows what she did, and the justice side of me wishes she could get charged and put in prison for SOMETHING. Isnt what she did considered misleading a minor, or even stalking a minor? (people lie all the time on the internet to lure children to become attached to them, theyre called pedophiles).

I dont know, I just wanna see that bitch get punished. To me an adult actively seeking out to harm a child in any way isnt right.

[Jeff]

That's just cruel. People shouldn't trick other people online like that. The problem of course is that there are plenty of people who choose to be anonymous online for legit reasons. Kids are even encouraged to not reveal who they are for pedophile-related reasons. So where do you draw the line? Obviously I shouldn't go around telling people I'm a 7-year-old girl, when I'm really a 24-year-old man, but should someone be allowed to act differently online to protect their identity? Ethical dilemmas are fun.

[Zak]

I wouldn't hold her liable for the death itself, but I think if someone is 49 and doing shit like that, then she needs to be put away in some mental institution.

Not that I've never done it..

[mistysakura]

It's morally reprehensible to push a girl to suicide, but obviously you can't sentence a person for personal relationship conflict. Prosecuting for using a fake Myspace name is definitely going too far. It's against all internet safety rules. You know how they say never give out your real name on the internet? But then they say that people who use false names on the internet are dangerous stalkers? It's a huge contradiction. If everyone used false names, we'd all be fine.

[mr_pikachu]

It's a huge contradiction. If everyone used false names, we'd all be fine.

Obvious counterargument: "Oh, but the little children can be pressured into giving away their real names! And then all the pedophiles will be after them! Ooh, scary bad people! We told them not to talk to strangers, but why would they listen?"

My stance: Sorry, but even if you don't trust your kid to be intelligent on the internet, it's ridiculously easy to make sure they're not giving away personal information.

And don't give me that "Parents are already overwhelmed so they don't have time to watch their kids 24/7" nonsense. Just go into their chat logs and hit Ctrl+F. Problem solved.

...Yeah, so I'm slightly biased on this issue.

[Heald]

Actually, this merely demonstrates why 13-year old girls should not use the Internet. If you can be driven to suicide by the Internet, then you shouldn't be using it.

Also, her parents obviously weren't paying attention. Yes, you can't police your kid, but at least monitor what she does, and I'd imagine she would have had serious behavioural changes during this 'relationship'.

[Zak]

Another thing is MySpace isn't even meant for 13 year olds. It's for people in high school and above, there is an age code there.

[PancaKe]

Since when do people follow age restrictions

[MToolen]

True. I remember lying to get on here and to get a Hotmail account among other things.

The video game populace has long been in favor of parents better monitoring their children, but I think we have found that, as usual, too much of a good thing can hurt in the long run. Like so many other things, there has to be a happy medium. We can't just let everyone go online unattended or without any personal I.D., but we also can't impose too much or stupid things like this happen. In either case, people can get taken advantage of. As much as I hope for a situation where that can't happen, I don't see it now or in the near future, at least not without people giving up their rights willingly.

[PancaKe]

I lied to join these forums. LOL.

So like, what happened is tragic, and the mother is stupid for cyber bullying. Honestly, she should know better. If anything, she should get harrassment charges and stuff, not this fraud charge. They just want to pin the suicide on her , but without knowing what was going on mentally, you can't blame anyone for a suicide. The girl probably wasn't mentally right in the first place - because nobody is stupid enough to kill themselves because their e-boyfriend dumped them.

[mistysakura]

Obvious counterargument: "Oh, but the little children can be pressured into giving away their real names! And then all the pedophiles will be after them! Ooh, scary bad people! We told them not to talk to strangers, but why would they listen?"

My stance: Sorry, but even if you don't trust your kid to be intelligent on the internet, it's ridiculously easy to make sure they're not giving away personal information.

And don't give me that "Parents are already overwhelmed so they don't have time to watch their kids 24/7" nonsense. Just go into their chat logs and hit Ctrl+F. Problem solved.

...Yeah, so I'm slightly biased on this issue.

But what if kids are more net-savvy than their parents? Like hell my mother would find my chatlogs, even though I keep then in an unlocked folder in my folder on our shared account.

Re: 13-year-old girls should not be using myspace if they're going to kill themselves over something that happened over the internet, that's a bit generalising, no? Of course, it's a problem with all age restrictions, but most thirteen-year-olds would have the maturity to not kill themselves... and some "mature" adults might not. Besides, the internet is a medium, not the cause. A thirteen-year-old who's too emotionally insecure to survive (literally) an internet break-up would not survive a real life breakup either.

[mr_pikachu]

Besides, the internet is a medium, not the cause. A thirteen-year-old who's too emotionally insecure to survive (literally) an internet break-up would not survive a real life breakup either.

Agreed. If I called someone an idiot and he went and killed himself, would I be responsible?

It is notable that the mother in this case isn't being held liable for the death itself. Considering that she's being prosecuted at all, though, the real motivation is obvious.

[Zak]

Since when do people follow age restrictions

At least they're there so she herself should be liable for evading the age code since she technically shouldn't have been on there in the first place. Had she been older, and more experienced and secure, this might not have happened.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

The real problem is that something tragic happened, but the harm that occurred doesn't have anything to do with the way they've charged the offense

Indeed. The people going after the mother found out the system was lagging on that particular subject. So what they did was find a backdoor; people use them all the time to avoid being prosecuted, now someone used it to get her into the system.

But they really should be able to charge her with something straight up, like harassment. Anyhoo, no matter how the case turns out, they should be filing a request for some type of ammendment, really.

[PancaKe]

A thirteen-year-old who's too emotionally insecure to survive (literally) an internet break-up would not survive a real life breakup either.

Oh I agree with you so so much. There are some pretty messed up thirteen year olds out there. I wouldn't put it past some kids I run into.

Sigh. It's really quite sad.

They should really be looking into the mental stability of young teenagers, not just prosecuting this stupid old woman with too much time on her hand.