Submission + - Canadians fighting to share details of "Canada's Steubenville." (thestar.com)
o_ferguson writes: Last year, Canada was rocked by allegations surrounding the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons, a teenager from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, who killed herself after being raped and having images if the assault circulated on social media by her classmates. While she reported the crime, and the photos were widely available, she receiving no help or justice, eventually committing suicide. Once this tragic case became known, Canadians demanded action, and police eventually re-opened their instigation, charging one participant with manufacturing child pornography for his role in photographing the assault. He eventually pled guilty, and received a very lenient sentence (one year supervision, no criminal record.)
However, one bizarre offshoot this prosecutorial tactic is that it effectively made it illegal to publish Rehtaeh's name in Canada, as child pornography laws there explicitly protect the names of victims whose assailants have been prosecuted. Her name, which had become a rallying call for Canadian activists against online bullying and sexual exploitation, was effectively removed from the general lexicon overnight.
Needless to say, the reaction from regular people has been swift, with many tanking to twitter in an open defiance of the ban and others moving to US-based sites where they can freely publish not just Rehtaeh's name, but the until-now highly protected names of her attackers. As in the Steubenville case, the actions of Anonymous have played a central role.
However, one bizarre offshoot this prosecutorial tactic is that it effectively made it illegal to publish Rehtaeh's name in Canada, as child pornography laws there explicitly protect the names of victims whose assailants have been prosecuted. Her name, which had become a rallying call for Canadian activists against online bullying and sexual exploitation, was effectively removed from the general lexicon overnight.
Needless to say, the reaction from regular people has been swift, with many tanking to twitter in an open defiance of the ban and others moving to US-based sites where they can freely publish not just Rehtaeh's name, but the until-now highly protected names of her attackers. As in the Steubenville case, the actions of Anonymous have played a central role.