The Dark Side of Social Networking
As well as being an avenue for socialising and promoting good causes, the world of social networking unfortunately also has the potential to provide an outlet for the baser, less altruistic elements of human nature. A troubling example of this has emerged in Australia, where several groups have surfaced calling for the torture and grizzly murder of the man accused of lighting the deadly Victoria bush-fires that enveloped much of the region earlier in the month. One of the groups goes as far as to call for the man to be “burned at the stake.”
These groups violate the Facebook terms of use which forbid “Groups that attack a specific person or group of people,” however, more seriously, by naming the accused person and posting a picture of him on the group, they have breached a suppression order and potentially prejudiced the case.
This is a worrying case study for the solicitors and judges involved in high profile cases. The courts are simply not equipped to keep up with the internet’s lightning fast ability to scatter information across the planet and thus may never be able to react to things like this in time to maintain the necessary secrecy surrounding some court cases.
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