Teen Checkup | Internet Safety

Web Sites Get Tough on Cyber Bullying

Imagine if this happened to your family:

According to one California mom,  students at her son’s middle school posted on YouTube a video showing a distorted image of his face with a ridiculous singing voice dubbed in. The video, which used her son’s full name, prompted even more insulting online comments, and he became a target of teasing at school. Although the boy’s mom contacted YouTube online at least 20 times, she says, the video remained up for eight days!

Folks, this is called cyber bullying, and in sad light of the above incident and the recent MySpace suicides - the time has come for it to stop.

Fortunately, some of the mega-popular websites are doing something to combat the problem. They’re getting tough on bullies by overhauling their security policies.

YouTube has taken a major step by unveiling a new “Abuse and Safety Center” tool, including a tab on its home page that leads users through a step-by-step reporting process. Also, citing “the increasing number of videos showing children involved in violence,” YouTube recently changed language on a menu for flagging problems in order to encourage reporting.

MySpace, the biggest social-networking site, is building technology to improve its capacity to delete hate speech and other harmful postings even before users report them. The site has been expanding e-mail and phone-reporting conduits for parents and generally responds within 24 hours. Parents can flag abuse through either the “Contact MySpace” tab or the “Safety Tips” tab, which links to a “For Parents & Educators” page and a parent guide to MySpace.

Meanwhile, Facebook is continuing to refine its reporting and take-down procedures. The site posts “Report this” tabs and commits to responding within 24 hours to complaints about nudity, pornography or harassment of minors. Its Facebook.com/safety page has a link to an auditing firm to provide feedback on its responsiveness.

Let’s hope EVERYONE joins the crusade against cyber bullying in ‘09.

It’s not a problem anymore. It’s a crisis.

This post was written by: Erin

Tags: Cyber-bullying, Facebook, hateful postings, hurtful messages, myspace suicides

Facebook Homicide Victim Was An Eagle Scout

As the Facebook Homicide is beginning to get more attention in the news, information is beginning to  come to light regarding the suspects in the case. More is also being revealed about the victim, Matthew Silliman.

In one popular photo of Silliman, he is wearing  a Boy Scout scarf, and - indeed - Silliman was an active scout until his death. In this new video, Silliman’s Scout Leader remembers the teen very fondly, calling Silliman a “good kid” and “a good friend”, and sharing fond memories about Silliman’s Eagle Scout ceremony.

The scout Leader of the Apex teen allegedly killed by his friends tells us more about Matthew Silliman.

Bart Vashaw said Silliman was a good kid who had a lot of energy. He also said Sullivan should be remembered as a good friend.

He remembers a recent camping trip where Silliman took care of his youngest son who came along with the older kids.

“We we’re going to cook with him at the adult table, but Matt pulled him away, so he had the 5-year-old mascot kind of following him around, so my youngest son really looked up to Matt and had a really good time with him on that camp out,” said Vashaw.

Vashaw says the Sullivan family is surrounded by their fellow church members from Peace Presbyterian Church.

Watch this moving rememberance here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: Eagle Scout, Matthew Silliman, Scout Leader

Murder Suspect’s Video Opens Window On Teen’s Life

Facebook Homicide murder suspect, Aadil Khan, has garnered attention for controversial rants on his MySpace profile. Now, the teen is getting another kind of spotlight as his self-produced YouTube video is being scrutinized by police and media alike.

Khan has been described as a “M. Night Shyamalan wanna-be”, and his short video - The Death of Pythagoras - combines footage from the film 300 with images of Khan and his friends “swordfighting” with sticks and “killing” each other in the midst of a re-imangined Battle of Thermopylae.

The video is rather charming, with the teens wearing “togas” over jeans and t-shirts, doing battle in what seems to be a construction site for a parking lot. It doesn’t appear to reveal much about the death of Matthew Silliman or Khan’s possible role in the murder, but it does show Khan to be a funny, bright kid, whose life may have taken a drastic turn for the worse.

Watch The Death of Pythagoras.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: Aadil Khan, Facebook Homicide, Pythagoras

Online Info Offers Insight On Facebook Homicide Suspect

While Ryan Hare has made the news with recent revelations about his criminal past, his fellow suspects in the Facebook Homicide case are beginning to steal some of his spotlight as questionable material written on Aadil Khan’s social network profile raises questions about the teen’s capacity for murder.

Khan has profiles on Facebook as well as MySpace and YouTube. These profiles are generating interest for what might Nazi/White Supremacist jargon. Police, media observers and the shocked North Carolina community where the crime has taken place are all wondering if there is any connection between Khan’s online statements and the death of Matthew Silliman.

Khan’s MySpace profile name - as well as his YouTube user name - both contain the word “Aryan”. Although Khan describes himself as an “anarchist” online - and this kind of Nazi lingo could just be nothing more than teenage machismo - it is enough of a concern that Khan’s MySpace profile has become the subject of great interest with police and other followers of the case. It is also likely that Khan is using the word in a strictly ethnic and cultural sense, with no intended reference to Hitler or the Nazis.

Here’s what it says:

i can start off by saying my name is Aadil Khan…translated from urdu (which is an Indo-Aryan language that is prominent in pakistan) it means Just Ruler (one who rules with justice)…which brings me to my next point…my name is misleading when it comes to what i’m really about…i believe in justice…but my own kind…i dont’t believe in any one person or many persons ruling over me…seeing how all people were created equal…y would i let someone equal to me rule over me…this brings me to my next thing…i am an anarchist…i believe in absolute freedom it is usually hard to place me in a social group simply because i dont really fit in one…im against the idea of social groups or cliques or whtever…they make ppl conform and restrict themselves too much and then they cannot be all they can be…i think people should be true to themselves and not be restricted like that…ppl have insulted me, made fun of me, but i proudly say that i am something that they’ll never be…and they can all go to hell because i could care less about them and their sorry ass lives… i usually get along with people, or end up hating them for all eternity (this has only really happened once…i usually tolerate ppl pretty well)…i don’t get into fights for a good reason…and i dont feel i have to justify myself so nobody is gonna ever get to kno

Find out more about Khan’s online life here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: Aadil Khan, Matthew Silliman, Ryan Hare

Warrant Reveals Background of Facebook Homicide Suspect

In the wake of the MySpace suicide trial, I have been keeping an eye on a case I am calling the Facebook Homicide: the murder of a mentally impaired young man by a group of fellow teens who had “friended” him on Facebook.

Matthew Silliman went missing right after Thanksgiving, at which point a Silver Alert went out,  notifying authorities about the missing teen. A Silver Alert is issued for missing persons suffering from mental disorders. It was thought that Silliman was suffering from delusional episodes. Police in North Carolina found the body of Matthew Silliman in a mobile home and soon after arrested 4 teens in connection with his death.

I have had an ongoing Google Alert informing me of the latest on this story, but info has been hard to come by. Police have been very tight-lipped regarding any information about the suspects or the case. This may be because of the minors involved in the case.

The latest development is that a new search warrant has revealed more background information on one of the suspects. According to these latest reports, Ryan Hare has had previous run-ins with the law, involving suspicious behavior and gun play.

Ryan Patrick Hare, 18, Allegra Rose Dahlquist,17, Aadil Shahid Khan, 17, and Drew Logan Shaw, 16, were arrested and charged with murder on December 3 after the body of Matthew Josiah Silliman, 18, was found in an unoccupied home owned by Dahlquist’s family.

A Silver Alert had been issued for Silliman, who was believed to be suffering from a cognitive impairment, on November 26 after he went missing from his home.

Police have released very few details about the case, including the cause of death or possible motive, but a search warrant obtained by NC WANTED provides insight into one suspect’s criminal past.

Apex police executed the warrant at Ryan Hare’s parents’ home on Walnut Hill Court in March 2008 after neighbors had reported Ryan, then 17, had been seen brandishing a 9 mm handgun and a rifle throughout the subdivision.

See what the police found here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: Facebook Homicide, Matthew Silliman, suspects

South Korea Cracks Down

I wouldn’t advocate the same for America, but South Korea certainly has an interesting way for dealing with bad behavior online.

One of the most striking moments in the MySpace Suicide was when the authorities in Missouri first became aware of all the twisted details that lead to Megan Meier’s death. It is still hard to understand, but there was just no recourse for the State or the people of Missouri. Try as they might, there was just no law on the books that Lori Drew could be charged with. Even when the Federal authorities stepped in the charges they presented were so stretched and convoluted that Drew wasn’t convicted of any Felonies, let alone the murder charges that many people were no doubt hungry for when the case first broke.

For better or worse. I don’t think they would have a similar problem in South Korea. I wanted to blog about this when I first heard a report on BBC radio, but our friends at Net Family News beat me to it.

Wow:

South Korea has cracked down on malicious Internet use, Agence France Presse reports. “South Korean police have rounded up more than 2,000 people for spreading malicious rumours on the Internet during a month-long crackdown sparked by an actress’s suicide,” AFP reports. Eleven people “have been formally arrested and detained for serious legal breaches.” It adds that Korea’s National Police Agency’s cyber-terror prevention centre is asking prosecutors to charge “another 2,019 with various offences,” and the crackdown will continue, AFP adds, referring to the centre’s chief investigator. Charges include libel (about 59% of those arrested), breaching laws on contempt, blackmail, and cyberstalking.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: lori fields, Myspace, south korea

The Wrong Reaction To The MySpace Suicide Trial

Yeah, I know, that is a rather strong headline, but when I read articles like the one I found this morning it kind of drives me crazy.

The reactions to the MySpace Suicide trial are really just beginning to trickle in, and it will probably be months before we have a clear understanding of just how the trial - and its verdict - will affect the cyberscape. One thing is for sure: it will.  But how? And will an overreaction for more restrictions and oversight ensure that wrongheadedness wins the day?

The death of Megan Meier was a tragedy, and I devoted nearly twenty posts to her case, her trial and its verdict. But was the vicious cirlce of cyberbullying and suicide that took place in Missouri the fault of MySpace? Some pundits would have you think so.

There is no doubt that cyberbullying is a real phenomenon, and that such behaviors - in extreme cases - may result in tragic ends. However, aren’t the users on a site ultimately the one’s resposible for their own behavior? Aren’t kids who cyberbully guilty of the same kind of juvenile shenanigans as the bully on the playground. Even a grown woman like Lori Drew acted on her own to torment the teen in this case. How can this be the fault of MySpace?

IMHO we live in a culture where people are less and less willing to be accountable for their own actions. These are not values we need to be reinforcing for teens online. The idea that sites like MySpace have to be better police officers in order to protect users from themselves is infuriating and laughable.

But, some people want to turn your social network into a police state:

Online safety expert Linda Criddle says social networks need to take responsibility for activity on their sites and make them safer for consumers, rather than directing blame elsewhere. “I think the industry was hoping there would be a strong verdict blaming one user for abusing another because that way it’s not their fault,” she said.

Criddle said few social networking sites enforce their own terms of service, giving parents a false sense of security when they allow their children to use the sites.

“It’s just the same as if you are at Disneyland and you scream profanities. That is not freedom of speech. You are on Disneyland’s property. You have to follow their terms and conditions. If you don’t, they escort you out of there,” Criddle said. “But these companies claim to have good standards and then do nothing to enforce them. They let people breach their terms and conditions and do nothing about it.”

Read more here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: Myspace, Suicide, trial

Cyber Suicide More Common Than We Think

Yes, this is a depressing topic. It’s generally not something people want to read about - or discuss- during the holidays. But, unfortunately folks, suicide is real. It happens around us every day, yet it remains so taboo most people turn their heads to avoid hearing about. I’ll admit it - I’m one of those people. Suicide, for me, is uncomfortable. It’s also sad and selfish.

But I digress.

The real reason I feel the need to write about suicide is because of the new epidemic that is sweeping the Internet: cyber suicide.

Most recently we heard the story about Abraham Biggs. On November 19th, Abraham Biggs died alone in his bedroom after overdosing on a lethal combination of drugs meant to treat insomnia and depression. Biggs’ death made national news because, though he died alone, his suicide was broadcast live over the Internet. It was later revealed that some Internet audience members egged him on.

Sick.

Unfortunately Biggs’ death was not all that uncommon. Young people do everything online. Their lives are entwined in the virtual world- that’s why we’re seeing more cyber bullying and cyber suicide.

I recently read a thought-provoking article by the Naples Daily News about a  rash of cyber suicides in Florida and around the world. Most of the stories have not made news - until now. The details are disturbing, yet sobering.  

• In June, a 13-year-old boy in England hanged himself in his bedroom after being bullied online for his appearance and his taste in “emo” music.
• In November, 12-year-old Florida girl, posing as a 17-year-old, held a knife to her throat while broadcasting live on the Internet, and threatened to kill herself.
• In 2006, a 13-year-old girl in Missouri hanged herself after an adult neighbor created a fake MySpace profile for a teenage boy, befriended her, and then began calling her names, like “fat” and “slut.”

Let’s all get informed about cyber suicide.

Knowledge is power and - in this case - it could save a life.

This post was written by: Erin

Tags: cyber suicide, Cyber-bullying, internet audience, teen depression

Facebook Homicide Update

There is some more breaking new on the Facebook Homicide case. It turns out that Josiah Silliman was first reported missing on November, 26, and that the community first heard about the missing teen via a Silver Alert. A Silver Alert is a community alert that is released when a missing adult is suffering from some form of mental illness.  There is no more news regarding what Silliman may be suffering from, but the alert makes it clear that he was not your average missing teen. It may also account for why police were reticent to jump to the idea of foul play. It may have been much more likely that Silliman had simply become confused and wandered off.

Silliman was eventually found dead in a mobile home. Although police have yet to release a cause of death, they have determined that the teen is the victim of a homicide and four suspects met in court with their families yesterday where they were informed that they were facing life sentences for murder.

Here’s the latest:

Silliman, an Apex High School student, was reported missing Nov. 26 and was the subject of a statewide Silver Alert, which notifies the public of missing adults suffering from certain mental impairments. Authorities issued the official cancellation of that alert as developments were unfolding Thursday afternoon.

Authorities have said little about the investigation, how Silliman died or a possible motive for the slaying. Deputies found the body at an unoccupied home that Dahlquist’s family owns at 4221 Olive Branch Lane in New Hill.

Arrest warrants said the homicide occurred Nov. 30, and they listed the victim as John Doe.

Family members and friends of the suspects were in court Thursday. They hugged one another and cried as District Judge Jennifer Knox advised the suspects of their rights and informed them they face a possibility of life in prison if convicted.

All were under age 18 at the time of the crime, — Hare turned 18 on Wednesday — and the U.S. Supreme Courts has prohibited executions of people under age 18 at the time of a capital crime. State law provides execution or life imprisonment as the penalties for first-degree murder.

Read more here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: accused, homicide, josiah silliman

MySpace Suicide Overshadowed By Facebook Homicide

On the heels of the MySpace Suicide case, we find ourselves faced with what may be a more horrific event: The Facebook Homicide.

A disturbing story is breaking out of North Carolina, as police arrest 4 teens in connection with the murder of an 18 year old whose missing body has just been found in a mobile home. The teens are connected through the online social network Facebook. Particularly disturbing is a recent, expletive -fueled exchange between the victim and the accused that seems to have immediately preceded the teen’s murder.

Police have declared the death of Josiah Silliman a murder, although the cause of death is not known at this time.

Stay in touch with these posts. I’ll be sure to cover this case as more news breaks.

Here are some details:

Messages posted on the social networking sites after the arrests ranged from concerns about the arrests to an expletive-filled rant against Shaw.

Wake County District Court Judge Jane Gray mistakenly informed Hare that he faced the death penalty if convicted of the charges. She was quickly corrected: Hare turned 18 the day he was arrested, and the murder had taken place before that.

The home where Silliman’s body was found has been owned by Dahlquist’s parents, Robert and Ethel, since 2006. The family has another home in Cary.

“They’re very sad and having a hard time dealing with this,” attorney Joe Cheshire, representing Dahlquist, said of the suspects and their families. “A situation like this creates all kinds of victims.”

He asked that people not speculate on the suspects’ fates and suggested taking a lesson from the Duke University lacrosse scandal, where three players were falsely accused of rape but eventually cleared of all charges and declared innocent.

Read more here.

More from around the sphere:

Facebook ‘friends’ charged in Apex teen’s death - NC Wanted - Arrest warrants said the homicide occurred Nov. 30, and they listed the victim as John Doe. Family members and friends of the suspects were in court Thursday. They hugged one another and cried as District Judge Jennifer Knox advised the … Victim was Facebook friends with suspects - NC Wanted - A judge has refused bond to four teenagers charged in with murder in the death of a missing teen who lists all the suspects as friends on his Facebook and MySpace pages. Facebook friends face murder charges - Silliman’s page on Facebook, an online social networking site, lists the suspects as his friends. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Phyllis Stephens said evidence found inside the mobile home indicates a homicide.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Tags: 18 year old, district court judge, duke university lacrosse scandal, homicide, jane gray, josiah, silliman, social networking sites, wake county district court