It’s no
secret that everyday there are new social networking sites and apps published,
but what is new are social network apps that are designed to be anonymous and
for mocking and embarrassing others. U-T San Diego tackles the issue in their
recent article. The
article acknowledges that there is no laws being broken by making these apps
and their anonymity, and also touches the issue of posts by the publisher.
Cyber
Bullying laws are in their adolescence, and vary state to state. Along with the
First Amendment and freedom to speech and the press, makes it very difficult
for the legal system and distributors to regulate what their users post. It’s
also becoming increasingly hard for parents to keep up with all of the new
sites and apps, as well as knowing what services their kids are using, due to
easy access to technology.
However,
the U-T San Diego article
does point that the Publishers initial intent when creating their programs.
They specifically target the app Burnbook and its creator’s negative intention. The app is based
off the movie “Mean Girls’ and is designed for high schoolers where they are
allowed to post about others from school. The app encourages users to follow a
‘community’ which translates to your own high school or other local schools
allowing you to read gossip and slander about those in your area.
The app’s
initial launch led to cyber bullying, posting of inappropriate pictures, and
eventually a threat to a San Diego High School. The Poway Unified School
District was forced to release a statement to all of its families informing and
warning them of the app.
These types
of apps obviously allow negative uses hence their design. The anonymity allows
false presentation where kids can misrepresent themselves and be deceptive in
who they are. It also allows lurking and observing without other people
knowing, so its hard to see who saw, liked, or upped a negative post about you.
Although the sites level of maliciousness isn’t clear, there is no clear
precedent for cyber bullying cases, and the cases range widely from simple
teasing to severe harassment, which is why website creators should use discretion
and responsibility and follow a moral standard when creating cites.
By Dan Geibler
No comments:
Post a Comment