I have chosen to discuss the issue of false social media profiles and the affects they could have on others. I will also discuss the potential for liability and rules.AS I discuss the issue, I will also bring up horrible situation of Megan Meier and her untimely death. Megan was a young teenager who met a boy through a social media site. After a month long relationship, the boy (Josh) ubruptly ended the relationship. The next day Megan committed suicide. Soon after her death the news came to light that Josh was not a real person, but instead a fake profile made by a neighbor, who used to be friends with Megan. This story has given light to the issues of false profiles on social media sites.
Social media sites are being critcized for incidents of false profiles, bullying and defamation. As we discussed these as a group, we considered who should have the responsibility to protect. We came to the conclusion that the sites themselves have little ability to monitor these issues due to the number of members and frequency of posts. Although, we agree that the occurence of defamation and bullying on the web is wrong,but we do not believe the social media sites have a responsibility to prevent them. We also discussed the increasing presence of false profiles and how the social media sites would not be able to operate if they were required to background check each member. Essentially, we believe if social media sites were responsibile for these incidents they would not be able to operate. In incidents like this, we do not see it appropriate to hold an social media sites criminally liable for the issues that potential stemmed from their sites. Now that we have discussed the sites are not liable who is?
Who is responsible? the parents of the victim? the parents of the perpetrator? In the case of Megan Meier, the parents of the perpetrator certainly have some responsibility because they aided in the scheme. We have discussed the topic of responsibility and believe both parents take some care to the control what their children say and do on the social media sites and other web based applications. We understand that this can be difficult to control, but parents should make an effort to teach proper internet manners. In the Megan case, the perpetrators parents should have some liablilty, but I am not sure if there are any legal reason they are able to be criminally charged. The current laws may not be applicable for this type of issue but an update to the current laws may give some extra consideration for cases which involve physical injury or death.