Facebook bullying

Seanachai

Hello , I was made aware of an autistic family member being bullied on Facebook over the weekend. I obviously cannot access the page in question but his name is very distinctive in the locality and the people who are signed up are local and known to have verbally abused this person in the past. The avatar for the page is a derogatory image. I know it is very hard to use the front page as evidence. I'm just wondering what the best way to go about getting some investigation on the page would be?. Thanks.

Mental Mickey

Seanachai wrote: »

Hello , I was made aware of an autistic family member being bullied on Facebook over the weekend. I obviously cannot access the page in question but his name is very distinctive in the locality and the people who are signed up are local and known to have verbally abused this person in the past. The avatar for the page is a derogatory image. I know it is very hard to use the front page as evidence. I'm just wondering what the best way to go about getting some investigation on the page would be?. Thanks.

:eek:Jesus that's fcukin horrible. Are you signed up to Facebook yourself? There should be a way to contact the people who run the site to report the bullying?

Hope you catch these low-lifes? :mad:

Tom Young

Report it to Facebook immediately. Send a link to the family member's page. One might ask whether this is rumour, etc.

The best way to do this though is to have the user do it, autistic or not as the case may be. Also, reset privacy settings to the max and delete bogus friends.

Max Power1

Seanachai wrote: »

Hello , I was made aware of an autistic family member being bullied on Facebook over the weekend. I obviously cannot access the page in question but his name is very distinctive in the locality and the people who are signed up are local and known to have verbally abused this person in the past. The avatar for the page is a derogatory image. I know it is very hard to use the front page as evidence. I'm just wondering what the best way to go about getting some investigation on the page would be?. Thanks.

I'm sure its just a laugh, some people really need to grow up and not let themselves get affected by a bit of harmless teasing tbh.

Its worth asking, first of all, can it be proven who is doing it anyway (whose to say that the identity of the page(s) being used match the identities they claim). And second of all is there any crime being committed.

Tom Young

Max Power1 wrote: »

I'm sure its just a laugh, some people really need to grow up and not let themselves get affected by a bit of harmless teasing tbh.

Its worth asking, first of all, can it be proven who is doing it anyway (whose to say that the identity of the page(s) being used match the identities they claim). And second of all is there any crime being committed.

Not sure I'd agree with this reasoning now to be very frank.

Max Power1

Tom Young wrote: »

Not sure I'd agree with this reasoning now to be very frank.

Taking my personal opinions aside, my main query was if there was any actual offence being committed

BrianD

Seems to be a bit vague but the Office for Internet Safety may be able to advise. http://www.internetsafety.ie

They seem to be located in Harcourt St. Garda Station so should have access to Garda advice!

Seanachai

It's far from harmless , the page was set up by somebody in the person in question's name. We have a pretty good idea of who it is. It recently escalated to a physical level which I don't want to go into as it was reported to the Gardai. I considered sending a printout of the friends page and a letter to the employers of the people who are signed up. There's an image of a girl with her father and I don't think he would appreciate being linked to any type of bullying like this. It's just frustrating that because we can't actually print out what's being said on the page we don't have any concrete proof. I'll report it to Facebook anyway and see what they come back with. Thanks.

Tom Young

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/pub/0026/sec0010.html#sec10

Actually - Potentially yes.

Max Power1

Tom Young wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/pub/0026/sec0010.html#sec10

Actually - Potentially yes.

Thanks Tom, I wasnt aware that it was an actual offence.

Seanachai

It's a very tricky grey area. I know it would be illegal to access the actual wall in Facebook without being accepted as a friend but if we had a printout of the posts somehow I don't think they would reflect well on the people posting. I would have thought that the Gardai would have the power to do this.

Tom Young

That surely would depend on whether or not the person made their wall open and publicly accessible?

Reminds me of this case:


Applause Store Productions Ltd v Raphael [2008] EWHC 1781 QBD

The Claimants alleged that the defendant set up a Facebook profile in the name of the second claimant containing personal information about him and a group page alleging tha the claimant owed a substantial amount of money and were not to be trusted in the financial conduct of their business. The defendant, a former friend of the second claimant before they fell out, admitted using Facebook but denied that he was responsible for setting up the profile and group. At trial Richard Parkes Q.C. (sitting as a deputy High Court judge without a jury) held that the defendant was responsible for setting up and, hence publishing the profile and the group page. The extent of the publication was estimated at less that 100 people. The Deputy Judge awarded the second claimant, UK Stg 15,000 damages for libel: and the first claimant UK Stg 5,000 damages for libel. He also awarded the second claimant UK Stg 2,000 for breaches of his privacy.

MagicSean

Max Power1 wrote: »

I'm sure its just a laugh, some people really need to grow up and not let themselves get affected by a bit of harmless teasing tbh.

Its worth asking, first of all, can it be proven who is doing it anyway (whose to say that the identity of the page(s) being used match the identities they claim). And second of all is there any crime being committed.

Yes we all have the right to tease the mentally handicapped and make their lives hell.

On a serious note, you should contact facebook and their school about this. If you get no luck you should go to the Gardaí. They can at least talk to those involved.

Reloc8

The family/persons affected should access the page to print off copies & save e-copies. Take these to their local garda station and make a complaint, if they consider it of sufficient significance to warrant that.

Sempai

can be served with an anti-social behaviour warning if they are causing distress to a person online.