I work up this morning and noted on The Toronto Star that two stories that are on the front page today that show that we as a society really need to change how we behave on social media. The first one relates to the story of Rehtaeh Parsons. She was a teen who as allegedly raped and had photographs taken during the rape circulated around cyberspace via social media. That led to her being cyberbullied which led in turn to her taking her own life. That in turn sparked outrage around the globe. Now hot on the heels of the Nova Scotia government enacting legislation to stop cyberbulling, two teen males have been charged in relation to this case:
The young men, both from the Halifax area, were arrested Thursday morning. Police later announced that both face charges of distributing child pornography. One is also charged with making child pornography. Their identities were not released because they were young offenders at the time of the allegations, police said.
Halifax Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais said sexual assault charges were not laid because “the available evidence did not meet the threshold” for that charge. The decision was reached after consulting Crown prosecutors.
“We hope that today’s arrests help the entire community to heal,” Halifax RCMP Chief Supt. Roland Wells said. “We all need to reflect on how we as a community can come together in Rehtaeh’s memory.”
I know that police can only charge people when the believe that they have a reasonable chance of getting a conviction in court. However, part of me feels that the rape still needs to be addressed. Still, it’s a positive step forward in a case that has angered people around the world.
The second story revolves around an investigation into a shooting by police. Eighteen year old Sammy Yatim pulled a knife on a Toronto streetcar and passengers ran for cover. What happened next was captured on a cell phone camera and posted to YouTube, but the net result is that Yatim was shot dead by police. As a result of this Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin has decided to investigate police guidelines for de-escalating potentially violent situations. During that announcement, Martin noted that he was called a terrorist by a Durham Regional Police detective on Twitter:
Provincial watchdog Andre Marin said a Durham police officer called him a terrorist on Twitter Thursday, shortly before Marin announced an inquest into law enforcement guidelines in the wake of the Sammy Yatim shooting.
A user going by the name of Joe Mayo tweeted Thursday morning that the Ontario ombudsman was a “carded member” of Al Qaeda.
The outspoken Marin quickly shot back on the social media site, writing that Joe Mayo was in fact a Durham Regional Police detective, whom he named.
During a press conference Thursday Marin declined to say how he learned the officer’s identity.
The same user is also accused of doing something similar to a member of Toronto City Council:
On July 28, the account also tweeted angrily at Toronto city councillor Janet Davis, who had criticized police in the Sammy Yatim shooting that day and suggested she keep her thoughts to herself.
It truly seems that we’ve become a society where it is socially acceptable to say and do anything one feels like from behind the veil of social media and believe that there will be no consequences for doing so. The only way to stop situations like either of these is to shine the light on the people who do this and hold them accountable for what they say or do on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else online. The two teens in the Rehtaeh Parsons are facing charges and apparently the police officer who sent these Tweets is under investigation. That’s good. But what is really needed is a change in society where this sort of behaviour is not acceptable at anytime and in any place.
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This entry was posted on August 9, 2013 at 7:46 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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There Needs To Be A Change How We Behave On Social Media
I work up this morning and noted on The Toronto Star that two stories that are on the front page today that show that we as a society really need to change how we behave on social media. The first one relates to the story of Rehtaeh Parsons. She was a teen who as allegedly raped and had photographs taken during the rape circulated around cyberspace via social media. That led to her being cyberbullied which led in turn to her taking her own life. That in turn sparked outrage around the globe. Now hot on the heels of the Nova Scotia government enacting legislation to stop cyberbulling, two teen males have been charged in relation to this case:
The young men, both from the Halifax area, were arrested Thursday morning. Police later announced that both face charges of distributing child pornography. One is also charged with making child pornography. Their identities were not released because they were young offenders at the time of the allegations, police said.
Halifax Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais said sexual assault charges were not laid because “the available evidence did not meet the threshold” for that charge. The decision was reached after consulting Crown prosecutors.
“We hope that today’s arrests help the entire community to heal,” Halifax RCMP Chief Supt. Roland Wells said. “We all need to reflect on how we as a community can come together in Rehtaeh’s memory.”
I know that police can only charge people when the believe that they have a reasonable chance of getting a conviction in court. However, part of me feels that the rape still needs to be addressed. Still, it’s a positive step forward in a case that has angered people around the world.
The second story revolves around an investigation into a shooting by police. Eighteen year old Sammy Yatim pulled a knife on a Toronto streetcar and passengers ran for cover. What happened next was captured on a cell phone camera and posted to YouTube, but the net result is that Yatim was shot dead by police. As a result of this Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin has decided to investigate police guidelines for de-escalating potentially violent situations. During that announcement, Martin noted that he was called a terrorist by a Durham Regional Police detective on Twitter:
Provincial watchdog Andre Marin said a Durham police officer called him a terrorist on Twitter Thursday, shortly before Marin announced an inquest into law enforcement guidelines in the wake of the Sammy Yatim shooting.
A user going by the name of Joe Mayo tweeted Thursday morning that the Ontario ombudsman was a “carded member” of Al Qaeda.
The outspoken Marin quickly shot back on the social media site, writing that Joe Mayo was in fact a Durham Regional Police detective, whom he named.
During a press conference Thursday Marin declined to say how he learned the officer’s identity.
The same user is also accused of doing something similar to a member of Toronto City Council:
On July 28, the account also tweeted angrily at Toronto city councillor Janet Davis, who had criticized police in the Sammy Yatim shooting that day and suggested she keep her thoughts to herself.
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This entry was posted on August 9, 2013 at 7:46 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.