Online Abuse in America

Online abuse is not just a problem in the UK but it has also proved an issue across the pond in America. It has proved difficult to decide how online abusers should be dealt with in the US. The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects free speech and makes it difficult to punish people who post offensive messages.

 In 2006 a 13 year old girl from Missouri, committed suicide after being bullied online. Megan Meier lived in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri hanged herself three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. Three years later her parents carried out an investigation into her death and linked her suicide to cyber bullying through the social networking site MySpace. Meier was a very unstable teenager and had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and depression, she also had self esteem issues regarding her weight.

A 16 year old male named 'Josh Evans' was registered on the MySpace account that was used for sending cruel messages to Megan. But a woman called Lori Drew, a mother of one of Megan's friends later admitted to setting up the account. At the time of the suicide Drew and Meier lived only four doors apart.

Lori and several others ran the hoaxed account, aiming to betray Megan's trust. Witnesses later testified that the women intended to use Meier's messages sent to 'Josh' to gain information about her and later humiliate her, as revenge for Megan allegedly spreading gossip about Drew's daughter.

'Josh' and Megan were chatting online for a long period of time and Megan admitted to finding 'Josh' attractive. Megan's family stated that during this time, her spirits had been lifted and she seemed much happier.

On Monday, October 16, 2006 the tone of the messages from 'Josh' changed, he stated in a message sent to Megan:

'I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard you are not very nice to your friends' 

More messages like this were sent and Megan's messages were shared online and bulletins were posted about her. According to her father and a neighbor who had discussed the hoax with Drew, the last message sent by 'Josh' read:

'Everybody in O'Fallon (the school) knows who you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you'  

Meier responded saying:

'You're the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over' 

The last few exchanges between the two were made via AOL Instant Messenger instead of MySpace. Meier was found 20 minutes later in her bedroom closet, she had hanged herself with a belt. Despite attempts to revive her, Megan Taylor Meier was pronounced dead the next day on October 17th 2006.

What are your thoughts on this story? Do you think Megan over reacted or do you think? What do you think should be done to stop free speech on the internet causing deaths like this?
Please comment below to let us know your thoughts.