MySpace Hoax

The case involving the MySpace hoax, which resulted in a young girl ending her own life, is a pretty sad situation. I find it really funny that the case ended up being taken up by federal prosecutors from Los Angeles, instead of local authorities in her own state. To me this case seems to be a clear case of slander. Slander being defined as “the spreading of damaging words or ideas about a person, directly or indirectly, in all other forms not considered libel.” (Essentials of Business Law, Luizzo, pg 45) The mother that created the MySpace account had the intent to slander the already emotionally fragile girl. The rationalizations behind why she chose to create the account and harass the girl are irrelevant. Maybe she did not intend for the girl to kill herself but she did however intend to do the girl harm. She posted publicly viewable bulletins on MySpace calling her names and saying all kinds of things that were not true. “Slander includes spoken words, gestures, actions and even omissions. Most cases of slander involve thoughtless statements that reflect on another person’s good name and reputation.” (Essentials of Business Law, Luizzo, pg 47) I am glad to see that the family of the girl did get some sort of justice even if it involved stretching the laws. I just wish they would have been able to come down harder on the woman, in my opinion she knew there was a possibility that this girl could do something bad to herself. Even if she didn’t pull the trigger herself, as she exclaimed to reporters, she definitely handed the girl a loaded weapon and pointed it in the right direction. So she should be held mostly responsible, as well as her accomplices.