Tag: Suicide Posts

No Justice For Megan Meier

 Journal

I wrote an article last year about a girl named Megan who committed suicide after a boy named Josh on MySpace told her that the world would be better off without her. The tragic element of that tale is that there was never a boy named Josh – it was always a fake person, invented by a friend of Megan’s and Lori Drew, that girl’s mother. The two of them together gained Megan’s confidence on MySpace, and then proceeded to toss insults at her, eventually leading directly to Megan wrapping some rope around her neck and hanging herself to death. Despite a previous jury ruling that Lori Drew was guilty, today a judge reversed the decision, and passed a full acquittal. There’s lots I could say right now, but I really don’t have the heart. Maybe in the legal world Lori Drew deserves to be acquitted, but that doesn’t change […]

The World Will Be Better Off Without You

Favourites  JournalSocial Commentary

** I wrote this article last year on another site, but given recent events I wanted to repost it on my site. I’ll talk about it more in a future entry ** I came across this article the other day, and found it particularly distressing given the prevalence of online social websites such as Facebook and MySpace these days: Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her. Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel. The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of […]

New Era In Social Networking?

 Journal

A few months ago I talked about Megan Meier, a young girl who encountered abuse from a classmate’s mother via MySpace. That abuse eventually led to Megan committing suicide, and sparked a whole series of internet debates about where the fault for something like that lies and how accountable social networks should be for the actions of their users. Today Facebook announced that they will be implementing over 40 safeguards to help protect its users from sexual predators and online cyberbullying: Facebook, the world’s second-largest social networking Web site, will add more than 40 safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, attorneys general from several states said Thursday. Facebook and officials in 49 states and the District of Columbia agree to safeguards to protect young users. The changes include banning convicted sex offenders from the site, limiting older users’ ability to search online for subscribers under 18 […]

Lost In Some Loopholes

 Journal

A while ago I wrote an entry about Megan Meier, a 13 year old girl who was driven to commit suicide by means of a fake MySpace user account. Megan, Image from CNN A few minutes ago I read this article which indicates that no one involved in this tragedy will be prosecuted whatsoever. St. Charles County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said an 18-year-old woman posed as “Josh” on MySpace to find out what Megan was saying about a neighbor’s daughter. The message said Megan was “mean” to her friends, Banas said. “There is no way that anybody could know that talking to someone or saying that you’re mean to your friends on the Internet would create a substantial risk,” Banas said. “It certainly created a potential risk and, unfortunately for the Meiers, that potential became reality. But under the law we just couldn’t show that.” But Banas said […]