Teen becomes first jailed in U.K. for cyberbullying
An 18-year-old woman is sent to three months in a young-offenders institute after being found guilty of issuing death threats on Facebook.
In a week in which Google was ordered to reveal the identity of the "Skanks in NYC" blogger who may have defamed model Liskula Cohen, a landmark judgment was also reportedly reached in the United Kingdom.
In Worcester Magistrates Court of England, an 18-year-old woman was allegedly sent to three months in a young-offenders institute after being found guilty of posting death threats on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail. It's thought to be the country's first jail sentence for cyberbullying.
The young defendant allegedly wrote on her Facebook page that she would kill another young woman, the Daily Mail said. The two had been at school together, where the defendant's bullying of the victim allegedly began.
The defendant already had two previous convictions stemming from her bullying of the victim, one for assault and one for criminal damage.
According to the Mail's report, the defendant originally claimed the Facebook threat was written while drunk. However, police discovered that the threats remained on her Facebook page for 24 hours.
It is tempting to think of this case as an isolated and extreme incident. But, as has become increasingly clear, people tend to use social-networking sites to reveal just as much of their persona as they do in person.
Or, in some cases, even more.