Criminal Complaint Filed Against Facebook After Girl's Death 559
An anonymous reader writes "A prosecutor has opened an investigation into how Facebook allowed the publication of insults and bullying posts aimed at 14-year-old Carolina Picchio, who took her own life after a gang of boys circulated a video on Facebook of her appearing drunk and disheveled in a bathroom at a party. The Italian Parents Association has filed a criminal complaint against Facebook for allegedly having a role in the instigation of Carolina's suicide. 'This is the first time a parents' group has filed such a complaint against Facebook in Europe,' said Antonio Affinita, the director. 'Italian law forbids minors under 18 signing contracts, yet Facebook is effectively entering into a contract with minors regarding their privacy, without their parents knowing.''
National ID Requirement For Registration (Score:5, Interesting)
If that's how Italy wants to play the game, then Facebook should just require that all Italian nationals provide government identification in order to use Facebook. Then they can validate the user's age and ensure that their "contract" is legal.
Stupid and silly, you say? I agree, but how else is Facebook - or any other website - going to ensure that they're able to operate in Italy?
Yes, this may mean that many business simply won't be able to do business in Italy. Oh well. Italy can suffer for its own stupidity I suppose.
Pot, meet Kettle (Score:0, Interesting)
Am I the only one that finds it hilarious that Americans - home of the most ludicrous legal system, and outrageous legal pursuits on the face of the earth - is calling this Italian group out for being ridiculous in this claim?
This is a new world we're adapting to here. We have a long way to go in learning the dynamics of this social media-dominated age, but ultimately it will likely come down to governance of ethics (which is a good thing in my mind). In this case, I agree that the worst offenders are those that recorded/circulated the videos, or contributed to the events of that night, but is Facebook completely innocent in all of this? Maybe they are. Is Magnum Research innocent of the deaths of people killed with Desert Eagles? Probably. Is a guy making meth innocent of the deaths of people who OD on the drugs he makes? I don't know the legal answer to any of these questions, but I'm guessing a lot of people will die before we adopt a legal system truly based on ethics (it's supposed to be based on ethics in its current form, but clearly, it is not).
Blurred Boundaries (Score:5, Interesting)
Once again the internet blurs the boundaries between public/publishing and private. On one hand this is like complaining to the paper company because someone wrote a nasty note using one of their products. On the other hand web sites do control the means of publishing and bear some responsibilities.
Note they are currently simply exploring. From the prosecutor: "This is an open investigation without named suspects, as yet. Facebook itself is not under investigation."
Re:facebook is an american company (Score:2, Interesting)
i have zero tolerance for people who self pity themselves to death and blame others for their misery
Re:Troll! In the dungeon! Thought you'd want to kn (Score:5, Interesting)
If this was your kid and she got bullied so bad she killed herself what would you do?
Firstly, I would have had my kid involved in extracurricular activities, had them assisting in chores and other things, and developed in them a sense of self-reliance and independence. A child that can do things for herself is not a child that can readily have their self-esteem destroyed by a bully. Such self-reliance would include self-defense classes; No girl should fear that a boy will assault her. Secondly, I'd track down the parents of the child bullying and explain the situation to them verbally and in person. If the parents didn't step up to the plate, I would explain to them in a non-verbal way my disappointment in their lack of parenting.
But the one thing I wouldn't do is go off whining to the government or some parenting group about how my child was being bullied and, so enmeshed in my own ineptitude as a parent, allow the situation to worsen to the point my child committed suicide. I mean, really, as a parent how can you not see your child is struggling? You do whatever it takes to protect your family; You, not the government, you. It's called taking responsibility for the situation, and I would parent my child by example by showing that same self-reliant quality in my own involvement in the situation.
But I would not engage in 'revenge'. That is the refuge of a coward; If I'm angry enough to fight someone, they're going to be facing me and they're going to be armed. And then they're going to lose.
Re:facebook is an american company (Score:4, Interesting)
Completely relevant.
Agreed, and moreover for the part of the complaint is that Facebook entered into a contract with the minor, the crap posted on any account would seem to be irrelevant. Really the question is whether agreeing to the ToS constitutes a binding contract in Italy.
Facebook has no obligation to police content to comply with the laws of any nation except the USA.
FB has an obligation to abide by the law of any country in which they do business. However that obligation would be enforceable only in countries in which they have a corporate presence.
Everyone else can fuck right on off.
Comity: look it up!
Re:Italian Prosecutor? (Score:2, Interesting)
Imagine for a moment, the thought process of an Italian prosecutor:
1. I can prosecute a faceless big company that may or may not pay a fine. OR
2. I can prosecute members of the mafia and live my life with protection details following me and my family (including waiting outside the schools that my kids attend)
Which would most people choose? Probably option 3:
3. Go into a different line of work!
Re:facebook is an american company (Score:4, Interesting)
To be fair, we're talking about Italy. This is a country that jails seismologists, throws out acquittals, and can't get a single charge to stick on Berlusconi. There aren't a lot of places where you can say the US judicial system has better moral standing, but compared to the Italian system, it does--by a long shot.
This won't be popular... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:facebook is an american company (Score:4, Interesting)
The discussions over bullying puts too much focus on the bully (what makes someone a bully?) and not enough on the bullied (what makes people prone to being bullied?).
The simple truth is that if you are a kid who's sensitive, can't laugh at yourself, or are embarrassed easily, then you're definitely going to get bullied. Other kids will sense your weakness and jump on you like a pack of wolves. The best advice for bully-prone kids is not to "stand up" to bullies. If you're doing that, you've already lost. You need to accept what you are and be comfortable with it.
Comedians say it best. Fast forward to 3:10:
http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:uma:videolist:mtv.com:1689785 [mtvnservices.com]
Dwarves speaking to bastards explain it pretty well, too.
Darwin Will Not Be Denied. (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm just going to say it: If you kill yourself before you procreate, that is a good thing. Keeps such self destructive genes out of the pool. I've battled with self destructive thoughts, and went though some truly heinous shit as a kid to get to that point. Yet, I survived. I've been beaten as a minority (the only caucasoid in an otherwise all black boot-camp disguised as a rehab run by Quanell X (the leader of the new Black Panther Party in H-town), who was sneaked the other kids out at night to a recording studio where the stars were installed in their eyes and their hearts were filled with hateful militant islamic views. The late night meetings were about, "Hating them crackers, as usual". You can't imagine the level of harassment.
Was the poor girl mocked? So was I. Was she beaten? No? I was. Was she raped? I have been, yet I still survived. If your mind is that weak, then good riddance. The world is better off without your genetic contributions. We've got humans to spare. May the most fit to survive do so.
What part did Facebook play in this girl offing herself? Well, what part did my parents play in the abuse I received at the hands of others? NONE. Deal with it. It was my choice not to be so stupid as to end my life. No force in this universe can cause you to take your own life. That is the one thing you can only blame yourself for. Her parents should blame her, and failing that, themselves, for their flawed parenting skills and bad genes. Certainly not a Internet Service.
I mean, fuck Facebook, but to file criminal charges based on some dumb hairless apes teasing each other with a fucking video? Get bent.
Re:facebook is an american company (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems you are referring to those seismologists who were sentenced for "not having predicted the L'Aquila earthquake". This is not correct: they were sentenced, and rightly so, for having misled the public that there was a certainty that no earthquake was going to happen. That's different from saying that there was no certainty it was going to happen. Their (very public) statements convinced many to return to their homes, and die there when the earthquake happened.
It seems you are referring to the fact that in Italy prosecutors can appeal an acquittal. This is a possibility in any European country I know of. If anything, the US is special in that new information cannot be used to reopen a case after the defendant has been pronounced innocent only one time.
Why actually there is one. He has dodged a lot but he was sentenced for tax evasion (same as Al Capone, guess what) and already lost an appeal. There is a very real chance he will be convicted in the last degree of appeal this year and will be automatically thrown out of the Parliament. While of course he should have gone to jail long ago, and flaws in the Italian system allowed him to get off scot-free on many an occasion, but prosecutors in the Italian system have not given him preferential treatment for being a powerful politicial.
On the other hand, I have not heard about a single US prosecutor indicting G. W. Bush for starting a war of aggression. That's way worse than tax evasion, corruption, rape or murder. That's the same crime of Nuremberg. Same goes for indicting Dick Cheney for aiding and abetting torture, international kidnapping ring (known as "extraordinary renditions"), or Obama for international terrorism (because that's what drone strikes are).
The US system still practices death penalty, and is based on Common Law (just a notch above tribal law). The Italian system, for all its shortcomings, is not going to get you killed. Also, in lawsuits, the losing part can be and often is sentenced to pay for the other part's legal costs, so frivolous lawsuits are much less common than in the US. Thank you very much, we will keep our Roman-Napoleonic code.