Cyberstalking: Fraud, False Allegations & Threats - Essay Sample

Introduction

Cyberstalking has become a common phenomenon following advances in communication and information technology. In the most basic form, cyberstalking involves the use of electronic communication to send threatening, harassing, and frightening information to someone. Cyberstalking is characterized by wholesale fraud, false allegations, and threats, illegally checking on someone, and using vital information to control someone (Lapshin & Klimakov, 2019). Similarly, it also involves the illegal use of minor issues such as sexual harassment or anything else. Although cyberstalking takes different shapes, it remains an unlawful act and should be aggressively spoken against. The stalkers use various platforms to serve their interests, such as sending text messages, emails, phone calls, and other platforms such as social media to perform this cruel and barbaric act. Besides, the stalkers threaten an individual and their family as a whole. Megan's case is a typical cyberstalking case.

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Megan Meir became a victim of cyberstalking in 2006, resulting in her suicide. At thirteen years of age, Megan had been relating with Josh Evans in one of the most popular social media networks, MySpace. John Evans was a pseudo account, mainly aimed at stalking and hurting her. Megan became clinically depressed, having received a text from John, claiming that "the world would be a better place without you" (LAWS, 2015; Sumrall, 2015). As a consequence, Megan hung herself in her room with a belt. Her mother learned of her death as she went to check on her.

Later on, Megan's parents were able to determine the existence of John Evans. Their discovery revealed that their neighbor, Lori Drew, the mother to John Evans, had created the MySpace account posing as her son to learn what opinion Megan had about her (LAWS, 2015). Although she might have had good intentions to justify her actions, it turned out that her efforts resulted in the death of Megan. According to the National Crime Presentation Council, 43% of all teens suffer cyberbullying in one way or another (Ready, 2017). The court charged Drew with murder for her active participation in the events that led to the death of Megan. However, after reviewing of witnesses, especially from her employee, Ashley Grills, the court exonerated Mrs. Drew from the charges against her. This is a severe crime that ought to be fought from all fronts and with all the necessary weapons available.

Do You Think That They Should Have Used These Laws to Prosecute Drew?

Megan's case was denied justice. For all its worth, there is no way I can agree with this court's ruling. From all the evidence gathered, it is clear that Ms. Drew's actions were intentional and geared towards harming Ms. Megan. She was aware of her health condition but did not stop playing her antics on her (Ready, 2017). Besides, the way the involvement of the computer was handled depicts a justice system that was ready to rob the low-income family of justice. For the very first time, a federal statute aimed at combating cyber-related crimes was deployed to prosecute what appeared to be a violation of user agreements on social network sites. In just a single charge, Ms. Drew should have received a five-year sentence for violating the cyber Act U.S.C. 1028 (2). This act states that "whoever during and concerning any felony violation enumerated in section 2332b (g) (5) (B), knowingly, transfers, possesses, or, uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification document shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such felony, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 5 years" (Sumrall, 2015) How, therefore, should I agree with such a denial of justice? There is certainly no way.

These laws, SB 0758-Revised Law Relating to Computer Crimes sections 565.090 and 565.225, could not have been used to determine the outcome of the case as Ms. Drew's actions may not be ideally taken as harassment. Besides, she was not a credible threat in this case. The other mentioned laws could also not have been used in this case as data analysis is always fundamental before any justice court. The real facts and evidence would not have given any proof that exceeds any reasonable doubt to the breaking of the law. The complainant's case could not convince the court as it lacked substantial evidence to convince the jury. As a result, the panel had no otherwise than to dismiss the charges against Ms. Drew. However, I strongly feel that the court should have used SB 0070 and SB 255 and SCS/SBs 70 & 255 in determining the outcome of the case. However, the jury robbed the complainant of justice by not considering these laws (Vines, 2015). This signified inconsistencies in the application of rules.

Conclusion

Cyberstalking is a great offense that claims the lives of many young people. There is a need for parents and governments to do everything to ensure that technology is used appropriately. Also, appropriate laws should be followed when determining cases in court to avoid situations in which victims are robbed of justice, just like in this case. Increasing confidence among teens and enhance their mental and clinical health requires proper measures and guidelines to be instilled to protect them against cyberbullying and stalking. This way, their future will be secured.

References

Lapshin, I. Y., & Klimakov, A. V. (2019, July). Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking as a Moral and Legal Concept. In 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences, and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019). Atlantis Press.

LAWS. (2015, April 4). Understanding the Megan Meier Case [Video file]. Retrieved from https://cyber.laws.com/megan-meier-case

Ready, B. (2017). Words As Weapons: Electronic Communications That Result in Suicide and the Uncomfortable Truth with Criminal Culpability Based on Words Alone. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev., 36, 113.

Sumrall, T. (2015). Lethal words: The harmful impact of cyberbullying and the need for federal criminalization. Hous. L., Rev., 53, 1475.

Vines, J. (2015). Inconsistencies across the states: an examination of anti-bullying laws. In Legal Frontiers in Education: Complex Law Issues for Leaders, Policymakers, and Policy Implementers (pp. 1-18). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.