Social Media Evil: Lori Drew and the Dark Side of MySpace

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<p>The U.S. government charged a mother who allegedly used <a href="http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/080421-095121">MySpace </a>in a deadly hoax that drove her daughter's 13-year-old classmate (pictured here) to suicide with conspiracy. </p>

<p>Missouri resident Lori Drew, after her daughter's schoolgirl fights with neighbor Megan Meier, 13, created a fake MySpace account to pose as a boy and flirt with Meier. When Drew began using her online identity to taunt Meier, the girl hanged herself.</p>

<p>The boy Megan had been corresponding with on MySpace unexpectedly began calling her a fat slut. He wrote "the world would be a better place without you." It turns out he was a hoax created by the mother of a former friend.</p>

<p>Drew was indicted today for conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorization to inflict emotional distress. She faces 20 years in prison, the maximum penalty. </p>

<p>"Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences," Los Angeles federal prosecutor Thomas O'Brien, who brought the charges, said in a statement.</p>

<p>The case was filed in California, where MySpace is headquartered.</p>

<p>The suit goes a long way toward establishing and enforcing the boundaries of acceptable and illegal behavior on the Internet in general and social media sites in specific.</p><div class="feedflare">
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