The kids created an offensive parody. They, from what I can discern in the story, did not attempt to userp the "victim's" identity for personal gain. It was satire. Mean satire, but satire nonetheless.
The First Amendment gives Americans the right to be offensive, and in fact to offend specific people. When we start criminalizing that offense, we might as well start shredding the Constitution.
Yes, the same kind that has driven other children to suicide. We could not disagree more.
1) The victim is underage. The perps are lucky that they aren’t facing child-porn charges.
2) If I understood the story correctly, the perps did not parody the victim - the page created was represented as belonging to the victim. Fraud does not have 1st Amendment protection.
Ummmm.... At the very least, this little stunt qualifies as defamation (either libel or slander, probably the latter).
Perhaps you're right that it's not a criminal matter....
But a hefty judgment in a civil lawsuit certainly seems to be in order.
Actually it wasn’t; by claiming to be this other girl they were committing fraud (check out the facebook terms of use).
By posting the material they did they were slandering/libeling her.
I don’t think it should be viewed as “First Amendment Rights.”
The fake account racked up 181 "friends" and the victim was "subjected to numerous incidents of teasing and ridicule for an ongoing period of time as a result," a school official says. The girls have been charged with aggravated stalking of a minor under 16 and have been ordered to have 21 days home detention before a hearing next month.
So it apparently crossed the line from parody to a situation with actual consequences for her reputation. And the girls apparently kept up their activities for some time.
It might even qualify as reckless endangerment -- one can easily imagine some mouth-breather taking this parody as permission to have his way with the "nasty girl" from the Facebook page.
It's a tough one ... but I think they crossed the line.
“It was satire.”
It was fraud and libel
You can’t holler “fire” in a crowded theater. You can’t post doctored pornographic photos of someone online; that definitely could affect their ability to earn livelihood in the future and is libelous. - Of course, it could drive someone to suicide, and that ain’t nice. If your daughter were driven to suicide by these “mean girls”, you’d be mad.
The victim is not a public figure. If this doesn’t stand as criminal, I do believe the victim would have grounds for slander and/or libel since FB is published.
If they signed up under the girls name;
They have commited fraud.
They have commited identity theft.
Not to mention posible libel.
If they posted naked prepubescent pictures, they also have violated child pornography laws.
I’m not sure the 1st Ammendment covers those activites.
Sounds more like libel to me. Which is an actionable offense.
Defamation of character is the communication of false information stated as a fact which brings harm to an individual or an entity, such as a business, group or government. For it to be defamation, the statement must be delivered in speech or in writing to at least one person other than the victim.
Libel is the defamation of an individual's or an entity's character which is published in a written medium, such as a newspaper. However, any written communication can be libelous as long as it's transmitted to a third party.
Internet searches are now routinely done by hiring businesses, associations, and colleges before an applicant is accepted. Even if the Facebook page was taken down, there is a better than even chance that the information (especially the pictures) have be copied and distributed across the internet.
What happens when a hiring company or college does an internet search on her name, and what seem to be genuine explicit photos of her show up? Do you think she'll get that job or be accepted to that private college?
Darn right she has been harmed.