Online Harassment, Morality, and Accountability

INCIDENT:
There is a story circulating in the popular media right now about a young teenager named Megan Meier who committed suicide last year over hurtful comments from a friend, Josh Evans, on MySpace. But it turns out that her MySpace friend was not the 16 year old boy she thought she befriended, but rather it was the curious mother of her former friend. This mother wanted to know what Megan was saying about her daughter.

It is an unbelievable story that calls to question the role of online social networks, the faulty judgment of some parents, accountability, and the sad reality of life in the twenty first century.

St. Charles Journal - POKIN AROUND: A real person, a real death

The Associated Press - Web Hoax Victim's Family Seeks Reforms

USA Today - Town may criminalize online harassment

MORAL:
This is a heart breaking story. I especially feel for Megan Meier as she was the true victim in this tragedy. When you are suffering from depression, you need a supportive environment to deal with it in a healthy manner. Reports say that when she first befriended "Josh" her disposition was happier. And you can imagine that the positive attention she was receiving from this "boy" contributed to a better outlook on life. But then to suddenly receive incredibly hurtful comments from someone that she thought was a friend... it was unbearable. My sympathies to the Meier family. I hope Megan has found peace.

What sickens me the most is that it was a cruel hoax perpetrated by an adult... a parent no less. This is more than an error of judgment. It was deliberate, calculated, and absolutely heartless. This mother knew Megan. Megan went on vacation with their family. She knew of Megan's psychological illnesses. And yet, she found this to be an appropriate and justifiable response? In what moral world, is this remotely appropriate?

It makes you wonder... what other new problems will we face as technology advances? What new ethical issues? What new reflections of humanity?