Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Scandal
At this point people who follow the news should be familiar with the latest MySpace scandal about Megan Meier who committed suicide after a MySpace boyfriend turned on her, and she could not manage it through her own diagnosed depressive state. The weird part is that the people behind the MySpace profile of Josh, who was working on Megan Meier, were parents and adults.
What makes this creepy is that parents, adults who should have known better used a social networking system to essentially convince an already disturbed teen (by all accounts) to kill herself. While the police state that there is not a crime here, here is a moral issue here, and this is the not the first time that we have been here.
Over the last year many people have been damaged by people using web 2.0 systems, blogs, forums and other information systems to undermine, threaten, or otherwise silence people, from Kathy Sierra, to other problems with unregulated user content.
There really is no plea here; there is a moral obligation for adults to behave in a manner that is to the better working of society. As we change our definition on privacy, issues like Megan Meier, Kathy Sierra, and others has to make people stop and pause. There is a reason why comments are filtered now, not just because of spam, but also because of the weirdness of crowds.
It would have been impossible for someone who was misusing the system like the adults who picked on and drove a young teen to suicide to detect what was happening. But this makes many arguments over how people should not use systems. There are no real laws against this outside of cyber bullying, which is an issue that the prosecutor will be looking at.
The greater problem is when events like this turn neighbors against neighbors. This should never have happened, and in civil court, the instigators, no matter how adult, no matter how they did not think of unintended consequences of their actions, should at least be held morally accountable for what they have done. The outrage is there, the sad part is that this is going to lead to tougher laws, in the name of the children, where anonymity is something that has gone by the wayside. Sometimes for good purposes, either whistle blower, crime reporter, talking about a repressive government, anonymity is a cornerstone of being able to do that. When anonymity goes because of the misguided many, the few are jeopardized.
Misuse of systems means the regulatory environment will get tougher than it is today. New social web 2.0 sites will have to learn to comply with new state and federal rules. It is not enough that they are catching predators, now we have to watch out for the adults that are misusing the system as well.
As details about Lori Drew’s 6 week cyber-voyeur techniques emerged, the more I am convinced that outing this kind of behavior is not only right, but essential. Essential? Really?
It is becoming clearer everyday that Lori Drew employed many of the same grooming techniques that child predators utilize to charm their way into gaining a child’s trust. The most significant key here is that Lori Drew spent approximately 6 full weeks baiting Megan into this trust by posing as a “cute” boy that Megan would be attracted to.
Right here, Drew utilizes the sexual stimulation that exists in male/female pair bonding in order to manipulate the 13 year old girl.
Lori Drew groomed her victim like many child predators do, enticing her with flirtation, mild sexual conversation and playing on Megan’s weakness. Lori knew that Megan had a low self esteem and was treated for depression.
There are uncanny parallels between the typical Child Predator MOA and those utilized by Lori Drew to control and manipulate Megan in the relationship Lori developed with her.
Outing Child Predators has been public policy in most states and is usually upheld under the premise that the public has a right to reasonably protect itself from criminal behavior where it exists. Families with children have a right to know when those who might prey upon their child, live nearby. Public policy dictates that if a child is exposed to potential harm from predatory activity, then parents should at least have the opportunity to be aware such harm may exist.
But what if a child predator confesses to a crime, but is never convicted? Does the potential for risk exist despite the legal process?
Thus far, details in the case have been heavily supported by Lori Drew’s own admissions, police records and interviews. The amount of speculation in this case has been minimal, and the majority of public outrage has largely focused on the facts presented.
The Missouri Public Records Act of 1961 was enacted partially to inform the public of persons, events, proceedings and reports that may effect the public directly. The records (such as the charges Lori Drew filed against the Meier family), were the principal documents used to tie Lori Drew to her abhorrent acts. By filing this police report, Lori in effect put herself into the spot light. The Blogging community simply connected the dots and reported the results.
The Vice enjoys the sharp irony that Lori Drew’s own actions, activities and zeal to hurt someone eventually lead to her own uncovering. As I see it, public policy laws and Lori Drew’s own manipulations of those laws worked to her undoing. The Vice is appreciative for Lori Drew’s assistance in these efforts.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
It is an interesting concept overall, I would never have thought ever that an adult would bait a kid on line, kid to kid, adult to adult, sure I can understand that, but not adult to kid.
Lori Drew is a psychopath. That part is clear.
But more disturbing than that are the actions of authorities: If it had been an adult MALE that “carried on” in a sexually explicit way with a 13 year old girl, even if it WERE for the purposes of revenge for his teen daughter, he’d be locked up as a pedophile.
Second, there are al-READY laws on the books that cover this type of harassment. For chrissake: just implement them!
What is particularly chilling to me, is that Lori Drew knew that the victim was known to be suicidal in the past. That means that her statement to her that the “world would be better off without you” or whatever it was… is even MORE chilling: it means she was TRYING to steer this girl to suicide. It means she had a desire to push it in that direction, and did so.
Reminds me of Charles Manson. He never “technically” put his own hands upon his victims either, but he “made it happen” by manipulating people, I mean that’s the premise upon which he was convicted: that he had INCITED it.
Same thing here. Lori Drew incited this suicide and should be just as responsible as Manson was when he incited those murders—and she should also be treated just like any other adult who engages in online relationships of a sexual nature with under-aged children.
Hypatia, I tend to agree with you, if this was a middle aged white male, there would be all sorts of interest in this one, that is what makes it interesting, and shows out a double standard when it comes to crime and punishment. Good point, well made.
This is retaurded! This is a crime and this should not be aloud! People need to get some sense!
On Wednesday, October 21st, city officials wasted no time enacting an ordinance designed to address the public outcry for justice in the Megan Meier tragedy. The six member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.
Does this new law provide any justice for Megan? Does this law provide equitable relief for a future victim?
The Vice rejects the premise of this new law and believes it completely misses the mark. Classifying this case as a harassment issue completely fails to address the most serious aspects of the methods Lori Drew employed to lead this youth to her demise. The Vice disagrees that harassment was even a factor in this case until just a couple of days before Megan’s death.
Considering this case a harassment issue is incorrect because during the 5 weeks Lori Drew baited and groomed her victim, the attention was NOT unwanted attention. Megan participated in the conversations willingly because she was misled, lured, manipulated and exploited without her knowledge.
This law willfully sets a precedent that future child exploiters and predators might use to reclassify their cases as harassment cases. In effect, the law enacted to give Megan justice, may make her even more vulnerable. So long as the child victim doesn’t tell the predator to stop, even a harassment charge may not stick with the right circumstances and a good defender.
Every aspect of this case follows the same procedural requirement used to convict a Child Predator. A child was manipulated by an adult. A child was engaged in sexually explicit conversation (as acknowledged by Lori Drew herself). An adult imposed her will on a child by misleading her, using a profile designed to sexually or intimately attract the 13 year old Megan.
Lori then utilized the power she had gained over this child to cause significant distress and endangerment to that child. She even stipulated to many of these activities in the police report she filed shortly after Megan’s death.
City officials who continue to ignore this viable, documented admission and continue to address this issue as harassment are intentionally burying their heads in the sand, when the solution is staring them right in the face. Why?
There are several other child exploitation laws on the books. To date, none of them have even been considered by City, State and Federal officials in this case. The Vice is outraged that a motion was never even filed, so that the case could at least be argued before a judge or jury.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
This is horrible! It is pathetic that an adult would do this to a child. It’s emotional abuse and is one of the saddest things. That poor girl wanted loved and liked and wanted it reciprocated and it was all a game for the “adult”. To put someone through emotional pain and rejection and essentially push them to the edge…I hope she gets what she deserves and there should be some consequence for her. She was a child with very real emotions. It’s not right. It’s sick. There should be justice to posing on the internet and hurting people. Please bring justice to this girl.
This is a crime hands down and the law needs to step in. She is no different then any other predator out there. Get Oprah, Dr Phil, someone involved. Im sure if one of them were involved.. Mainly Dr. Phil would fight to be sure this woman was behind bars with the rest of them invovled. They need to pay for there actions.. No different then her walking into the house and shooting her in the face point black. She new she had a loaded gun and used it to her advantage. Shame on her.
[…] used to cover a crime. The use of social networking to commit a crime is not new, thinking of the MySpace Suicide Lori Drew debacle that keeps on cropping up in the news. But this is fairly ingenious thinking, even if they […]
Its horrible that this has happened. They should get charged for internet stalking and receive the longest sentence possible.
That being said, however, I do not believe anyone should get a charge for murder, manslaughter, etc. Megan Meier obviously had some deep-seeded psychological issues already if this was enough to make her commit suicide. It should serve as a lesson to be careful what you say to people.