Posts Tagged ‘Internet’
Taking a Stand against Cyber Bullying
The following is from my good friend Loni Coombs, a legal analyst, mom and regular contributor to the Dr. Phil show and The Doctors. She appeared on the Dr. Phil show “Bullied to Death,” weighing in on the legal consequences cyber bullies should face as a result of their actions.
I just finished taping a heart-wrenching episode of the Dr. Phil show that airs today. The show deals with the recent suicide of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who was “outed” by his roommate’s alleged surreptitious recording of Tyler’s sexual contact with another male. It was broadcast over the Internet, and highlights a dangerous and devastating trend that we as a society need to deal with immediately and not continue to stick our collective heads in the sand and hope it will go away.
Tyler’s story brings together the perfect storm of a vulnerable young man struggling with his own sexual identity, a desensitized attention seeker and the far-reaching, immediate and permanent impact of the cyber social network. (more…)
Is Common Sense Common Anymore?
Philip Markoff (AP Photo)
So now comes word that Craigslist has replaced its infamous “erotic services” section with a more responsible “adult” section. Did somebody sneak up on us during the night and stamp “stupid” on our foreheads?! I’m so furious I’m almost speechless — almost. Where to begin?
You might remember the uproar last year when Boston University medical student Philip Markoff was accused by police of using Craigslist, one of the Internet’s most popular sites, to find females to assault or kill. What stunned a lot of people was that Craigslist openly had an erotic services section that clearly promoted prostitution. Forty three attorney generals in different states went so far as to accuse the company of operating an online brothel by allowing prostitutes to advertise on its site. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said about Craigslist in this month’s issue of Vanity Fair, which carries a riveting story about the Markoff case, “They were certainly enablers insofar as their ads linked the victim and the alleged killer, and they had fair warning their ads were putting people in danger.”
So what did Craigslist do? Well, they did start blocking those ads that blatantly solicited prostitution. They also blocked the graphic nude images of the prostitutes themselves. Sort of. (more…)
You've Got Mail
I read an article the other day that really, really bothered me, and I need your help to think through this one! It was an article about a young woman who is suing her school after she was allegedly forced by her cheerleading coach to hand over her Facebook login information. According to the lawsuit, an exchange within her Facebook e-mail included heated and profanity-laced comments that ripped into the coach and other teachers. The girl was reprimanded as a result, and now she’s fighting back. Now, I don’t know what really happened here, but the specifics are not the point. Either way, it is a really thought-provoking scenario, to which, I have one point and one big question.
The point is that the Internet may be a lot of things, but private is not one of them. There is good news and bad news when it comes to all of our newfangled technology. The good news is: We have so much info at our fingertips. The bad news is: We have so much info at our fingertips! (more…)
