Fergie's Tech Blog

Parents of MySpace Hoax Victim Seek Legal Recourse

Ina Freid writes on the C|Net "Beyind B1nary" Blog:

Getting ready for work this morning, I caught a Today Show interview with the parents of Megan Meier, the 13-year-old that I wrote about on Saturday, who committed suicide last year after being taunted on MySpace.

Meier believed she had been chatting on the social network with a boy named Josh. At first, "Josh" sent friendly messages, but after a few weeks, he abruptly turned accusatory and insulting.

Meier's parents found out several weeks after their daughter's death that Josh was actually not a boy, but rather the fictional creation of adults, including the mother of a friend of Megan's, with whom she had a falling-out.

In the Today Show interview, Tina and Ron Meier said that the FBI looked into the matter for some time, but was unable to find a law that had been broken. However, the two said they still hoped civil or criminal action might be possible against the adult cyberbullies.

posted by Fergie @ 11/19/2007 11:24:00 AM