Who or what is to blame for the tragic suicide of a Rutger's student after other students "outed" him in an intimate sexual encounter using live webcam streaming and Twitter. The discussions about potential impacts of a medium/media has taken place with every new innovation: radio, TV, internet, video games, portable devices, etc....
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1001/Rutgers-student-death-Has-Digital-Age-made-students-callous?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4ca8e26f4da1292e,0
This is a complex issue, but regardless of the medium used, the roommate's behavior is still criminal. From a switched.com reactionary article (link below): "Collecting or viewing pornographic images of someone without their consent is a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey. Broadcasting them is a third-degree offense, and carries a maximum prison term of five years." With these laws, I think that the roommate/cyberbully is responsible for the brunt of the blame. The gawker article linked below shows Ravi's twitter account, which he used to advertise the illegal webcam streaming. His twitter account reveals other questionable aspects of his character and no doubt will be used against him in court. So is Twitter/social media here both perpetrator and prosecutor??
ReplyDeleteAdding to the complexity of this issue is the fact that social media has been glorified in movies for this exact type of behavior (i.e. American Pie), which downplays and even disregards entirely the severity of the situation.
There is plenty of blame to go around but ultimately I think it comes back to Ravi's choice to break privacy laws. I have yet to see any statements from Twitter, though, condemning his actions.
Two reaction articles:
http://www.switched.com/2010/09/29/rutgers-student-kills-himself-after-roomate-secretly-live-stream/
http://gawker.com/5651050/how-a-college-kid-livestreamed-his-roommate-having-gay-sex-possibly-causing-a-suicide