Anonymous outs the man they claim to be Amanda Todd's bully

_Sian_ · Oct 17, 2012

Hacker group anonymous claims to have found the man that took photos of Amanda Todd without her knowledge when she was webcaming with him in grade seven. This person then contacted her a year later and used those photos to blackmail her. He then distributed those photos on facebook, leading to a long period of bullying, at the end of which Amanda Todd killed herself.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/amanda-todd-bully-anonymous-suicide_n_1969792.html

If this is the man, I think he's scum, but this makes me a bit uncomfortable:

Anonymous also revealed his address....Vice Magazine posted information that reportedly further links Todd to the alleged bully, including Google Map screenshots of his house, his Facebook profile, chat conversations and screenshots from a "jailbait" website account supposedly tied to the man.

If someone had believed to have found the person who did this to this girl, I would have very little issue with them calling him on it. But to post this sort of information as well seems to me to be at the best a bad idea, and at worst an attempt to accuse someone of something, and then punish them without allowing them to defend themselves against said accusations.

It reminds me of a case here, where the courts ordered Facebook and other internet pages to be taken down because they were making it hard to give the accused a fair trail - the term coined then was "trial by internet"

Gale Haut · Oct 17, 2012

I'm not too upset to be honest... It would have been better for them to have shared the information with the authorities and allowed them to validate it. But it's no surprise that Anon would prefer credit for their "selfless acts" of vigilantism, nor that they would prefer striking with an ironic blow by exposing the man to the world just as he did to Todd. They are trying to build a very specific image, after all.

Hopefully, they got it right.

EMaree · Oct 17, 2012

Doesn't surprise me that they took it upon themselves to share that info, because that's how Anonymous are. They don't trust any authority, so why would they trust the police? And we all know exactly how much respect they have for people's privacy.

I'll be glad to see this guy put behind bars for what he did... if Anonymous have the right guy. I just hope they're not going after completely the wrong man. It's happened before.

Gale Haut · Oct 17, 2012

EMaree said:
They don't trust any authority, so why would they trust the police?

I really don't buy that their level of distrust would keep them from reporting an online predator to the police. Besides, they did report Chris Forcand for child pornography. It also quotes Anonymous as if they reported this case as well: "We generally don’t like to deal with police first hand but were compelled to put our skills to good use protecting kids."

Their motivation for prematurely sharing the man's information seems to be an attempt at sensationalizing their actions. But whatever, as long as the guy actually did it, I'm not going to get too upset.

_Sian_ · Oct 17, 2012

I don't think I'm surprised by it, I just think there's quite the margin for error. Maybe not in this particular case, but as a precedent, if that makes any sense.

EMaree · Oct 17, 2012

Gale Haut said:
I really don't buy that their level of distrust would keep them from reporting an online predator to the police

Oh no, I didn't mean it to sound like I thought Anonymous didn't report the case to the police -- I'd expect them to report it, definitely.

But I didn't expect them to withhold any information that might be 'better in police hands' or safer kept out of public knowledge. Such as the guy's address, which a normal person might think would be unwise to hand to an angry public.

shadowwalker · Oct 17, 2012

I don't think they had any business disclosing anything publicly - how does anyone know this is really the guy and not some poor schmuck Anonymous has it in for? Or just some guy Anonymous picked for kicks?

That's the problem with vigilantes - we can only hope they got it right, and that they haven't destroyed any possibility of a fair trial for the accused (not to mention some innocent person's life).

Don · Oct 17, 2012

shadowwalker said:
That's the problem with vigilantes - we can only hope they got it right, and that they haven't destroyed any possibility of a fair trial for the accused (not to mention some innocent person's life).

Realistically, shouldn't those be critical considerations every time someone is accused of something, whether by someone with a shiny badge or funny hat, or someone without?

Don't we have the same problem and the same hopes, when it comes to government justice systems? These problems are by no means exclusive to vigilantes.

Roger J Carlson · Oct 17, 2012

Don said:
Realistically, shouldn't those be critical considerations every time someone is accused of something, whether by someone with a shiny badge or funny hat, or someone without?

Don't we have the same problem and the same hopes, when it comes to government justice systems? These problems are by no means exclusive to vigilantes.

Sure, but with the judicial system (flawed as it is), the accused has a right to confront the accuser, present a defense, and be judged by a theoretically impartial jury. The justice process is divided among separate groups -- police, prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and jury.

Vigilantes combine all these roles into one with no checks or balances and no accountability to anyone else.

shadowwalker · Oct 17, 2012

Roger J Carlson said:
Vigilantes combine all these roles into one with no checks or balances and no accountability to anyone else.

This is it exactly. They don't have to present any credible evidence, don't have to prove anything within a reasonable doubt - it can all be speculation on their part, or a grudge held, or mere suspicions. No different, really, than those people outing 'nasty' reviewers/authors on their blogs.

sailor · Oct 17, 2012

An article from postmedia news:

http://o.canada.com/2012/10/17/anonymous-accusation-of-amanda-todds-stalker-is-false-rcmp-say/

The RCMP said Tuesday that information released by an international hacktivist group identifying a Vancouver-area man as Amanda Todd’s tormentor is “unfounded,” and warned against the spread of false information through social media.
“The outpouring of support, emotion and information is literally overwhelming,” Sgt. Peter Thiessen of the Lower Mainland District RCMP said in a release. “The Internet and social media were central to Amanda’s story and they are central to our investigation.
“One of our big challenges right now, is false information that is being spread by people who appear to be trying to use Amanda’s story to do harm or make a profit.”

Gale Haut · Oct 17, 2012

Roger J Carlson said:
Sure, but with the judicial system (flawed as it is), the accused has a right to confront the accuser, present a defense, and be judged by a theoretically impartial jury. The justice process is divided among separate groups -- police, prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and jury.

Vigilantes combine all these roles into one with no checks or balances and no accountability to anyone else.

This is pretty much my sentiment on the issue.

I just think it goes a step further in that Anonymous has become a blanket identity for anyone with the right resources and know how to carry out a personal vendetta under the guises of vigilantism and justice. The group is obviously not going to hold themselves accountable to mistakes made. They are by nature avoiding any kind of accountability.

It's an exciting premise for a very nerdy graphic novel, but in RL it's getting scary seeing our actual law enforcement having to consider possible backlash of acting contrary to the group.

Anonymous outs the man they claim to be Amanda Todd's bully

_Sian_

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic

EMaree

a demon for tea

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic

_Sian_

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

EMaree

a demon for tea

shadowwalker

empty-nester!

Don

All Living is Local

Roger J Carlson

Moderator In Name Only

shadowwalker

empty-nester!

sailor

still new

Gale Haut

waxing digital artistic