I need to know if I can take legal action against someone who has been bothering me online, or if there is nothing I can do. I have broken up with a boyfriend (who is now my ex) about a couple months ago. I avoided communication with him for a while to let him forget about me. However, we started talking again just as friends but we recently got in an argument online because he kept posting blogs about me purposely so I could read them. They were stories about me and up-to-date feelings. I became angry he would not stop posting about me and we said some mean things to eachother. I blocked him on all my messengers and on myspace, but he now makes his blogs public so I can still read them. He also comments my best friend (who he met only twice) so I can see when I go on her myspace (When we were together he knew it made me jealous so he still does it). He just won't forget about everything and leave me alone already. It's aggravating me. He also makes his myspace display names relate to our past relationship and changes everything to include me in it- except he doesn't ever use my name.
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gretchengirl
Posts:
3
Registered:
4/24/07
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(6 of 6)
May 8, 2007 4:02 AM
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Thanks guys, I found all of your advice helpful. I started ignoring him and it seems yo be working now. Though he does still try to talk to my friends hoping I can see every once in a while. However, I'd rather not deal with his childish activities.
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molawdawg
Posts:
1
From:
Missouri
Registered:
4/26/07
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(5 of 6)
Apr 26, 2007 11:52 AM
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I am sorry to hear about this but the laws are changing daily when it comes to online problems. You might be able to have a civil suit against him. Check out this recent court case and news articles about it see if it will help you any. A school principal sued four former students who he contends posted parody MySpace.com profiles saying he smoked pot, kept beer at school and liked having sex with students. In the lawsuit, Eric W. Trosch alleged that the three profiles created in December 2005 on the social networking Web site damaged his reputation, humiliated him and hurt his earning capacity. The profiles “went far and beyond what you would see on a bathroom wall in a school,” said Trosch’s attorney, John E. Quinn. "Saturday’s article from Pennsylvania “Hermitage principal sues over MySpace parody” < http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/289808667354162.php> highlights issues of ongoing importance relating to user-created content, defamation, free speech, and appropriate/ethical uses of digital technologies. According to the article: There is an extensive an interesting thread of discussion < http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=2394732> (48 comments long as of this writing) about this on MySpace. Among the comments is a question of whether or not a school principal qualifies as a “public figure” for whom there is less legal, libel protection due to that status. That protection permits, for example, “Saturday Night Live” skits about prominent political figures and protects authors, producers, and actors from being sued for creating those parodies. Molawdawg
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NetFamilyNews
Posts:
368
Registered:
6/5/06
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(4 of 6)
Apr 25, 2007 4:47 AM
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I'm sorry about your situation, gretchengirl. Something a researcher in social media told me a while ago is that, for teen and 20-something social networkers, "there's more power in exposing yourself than in others exposing you." In other words, I think, "the best defense is offense." In this very public space, we all need to become our own spin doctors (and I think parents going forward are going to have to teach their kids something about this), who put out info on top of the info others post about us. You could simply ignore this junk he's posting (don't react to it) and post your own interesting Web page or update your profile - put some interesting, positive content about yourself out there to draw attention away from his disinformation. Does that make sense? Good luck with it,
Anne
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gretchengirl
Posts:
3
Registered:
4/24/07
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(3 of 6)
Apr 24, 2007 8:46 PM
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Thanks Anne, I had told my situation to someone else who knows more about my problem and they said the same thing. There's not much I can really do for now.
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Anne
Posts:
507
Registered:
6/26/06
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(2 of 6)
Apr 24, 2007 3:33 PM
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gretchengirl, I'm so sorry to hear about this harassment you're getting. I'm not an attorney, but I don't actually think there's legal action you can take that's specific to online harassment. If he's threatening physical harm there is certainly legal action you can take, whether the threats are online or offline (it might be easier to obtain evidence if they're online). You might check MySpace's Terms of Use to see if he's violating any of those, in which case you could report that abuse and get his account deleted (though there's no guarantee he wouldn't just create a new one). Maybe someone on this forum has further advice. All best,
Anne
--
Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director
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gretchengirl
Posts:
3
Registered:
4/24/07
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(1 of 6)
Apr 24, 2007 1:49 PM
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I need to know if I can take legal action against someone who has been bothering me online, or if there is nothing I can do. I have broken up with a boyfriend (who is now my ex) about a couple months ago. I avoided communication with him for a while to let him forget about me. However, we started talking again just as friends but we recently got in an argument online because he kept posting blogs about me purposely so I could read them. They were stories about me and up-to-date feelings. I became angry he would not stop posting about me and we said some mean things to eachother. I blocked him on all my messengers and on myspace, but he now makes his blogs public so I can still read them. He also comments my best friend (who he met only twice) so I can see when I go on her myspace (When we were together he knew it made me jealous so he still does it). He just won't forget about everything and leave me alone already. It's aggravating me. He also makes his myspace display names relate to our past relationship and changes everything to include me in it- except he doesn't ever use my name.
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