The Rants of Issachar
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Posting is publishing...
According to the Winnipeg Sun a teenager in Manitoba has been charged with a criminal offense for posing as a teacher on Facebook.
The article notes his age, but I think that's actually irrelevant. We have Youth Criminal Justice Act to deal with criminal offenses by teenagers and to take their age into account when sentencing. Now whether or not a crime has been committed is an entirely different question.
Still, I don't think a lot of people clue into the fact that posting something on the internet is essentially publication. (Not that personation necessarily requires publication, but this is where I'm going with it). Prior to the internet it was expensive and difficult to publish with wide circulation. The fact that it's all but free now hardly changes the law or the ethics of the situation.
The article notes his age, but I think that's actually irrelevant. We have Youth Criminal Justice Act to deal with criminal offenses by teenagers and to take their age into account when sentencing. Now whether or not a crime has been committed is an entirely different question.
Still, I don't think a lot of people clue into the fact that posting something on the internet is essentially publication. (Not that personation necessarily requires publication, but this is where I'm going with it). Prior to the internet it was expensive and difficult to publish with wide circulation. The fact that it's all but free now hardly changes the law or the ethics of the situation.
