The internet yields a vast crowd of people.
Platforms that enable fast publishing are both a blessing, and, a curse. Easily, a person can publish torturous statements against someone, and gain thousands of views. Thousands of subscribers, and potentially thousands of new "fans". Nobody checks the "why", or the "how", they instead enjoy the "gossip", and the delight they feel to bring someone else down. The para-relationship developed is important to discuss, as they feel their victims "deserve" to be abused online.
Emotional Charge
The fact is people are emotionally stimulated by the internet. Those missing something in their lives, gain a small "emotional plug". There is a feeling of "they really like me." Comradery. However, a constant desire for more views, and adoration, frequently leads to dark places, especially when the content matter is negative. The converse is also true, as those who interact develop predatory behavior, as they hunt their prey together for 'midnight entertainment'. The internet has become a medium for stalking, harassing, and normalizing "cults," and "digital mobs," where individuals with similar interests encourage one another, and promote criminal behavior. The emotional high becomes addictive once these lines are crossed. Users can't stop.
"Lonely, angry, eager to make history. Online mobs are likely to remain a dangerous reality..." (Washington post)
The Line Crossed
In the example used below, a misuse of PACER was used where Lillee Jean's Fourth Amendment Rights were violated. Pacer, in goodwill, is to be used for legal cases, and only for the effect of a court case. Further complicating matters, the cyber criminal admits that someone granted them access to their pacer account. This was unethical, and it aided as well as abetted the violation of amendment rights. The documents were used to torment, harass, and isolate the Trueman family on the social media platform Twitter.
Twitter's TOS states: "You may not publish or post other people's private information without their express authorization and permission. We also prohibit threatening to expose private information or incentivizing others to do so." - Twitter. The fact that Twitter allowed these papers, and fake accounts to grow is in violation of its own TOS. When does it end? Accountability IS NEEDED.
Nobody has the right to intrude on your space, invade on your life, or remove what you have built.
Fourth Amendment Rights:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Cornell Law
ADVOCATE. EDUCATE.
The internet is changing. It's time for laws to change with the times.
"When an officer of the court VIOLATES civil, digital, and natural-born American rights, we as a society have an issue. Society has normalized irrational behavior. Online bullying goes hand-in-hand with social media consumption, addiction, as well as compulsion." - Lillee Jean
