Weird news: Teen in jail for an offensive Facebook post

There are a number of cases where young people have committed grave crimes; the recent bombings in Boston, the shootings in Columbine and other places, in all such cases, the crimes have been committed by people who are like old teens or young adults. In a number of such cases, when the crimes have been committed and then a lot of digging into the background is done, there are indicators about how the culprit had made some kind of intentions clear already - there would be postings on forums, there would be Facebook posts that are angry or threatening, and there are questions about how these indicators were not picked up. As a result, there are now tendencies that tend to ensure that such threats on public forums are not taken lightly, and in fact, the people making such threats can be jailed under stiffer terms, such as in this case (link to article):

The Texas teen facing a felony terrorism charge over an alleged threat on Facebook has been released on bail after an anonymous donor posted a $500,000 bond. Justin Carter, 19, had spent five months in prison for posting, during an argument about a video game, what he said was a sarcastic comment about how he was going to "shoot up a kindergarten." "I just think it got taken out of context, and it's been blown out of proportion," Carter told Kate Bolduan on "New Day," CNN's morning show. The brief interview marked Carter's first public comments since he was jailed in February.

Just jailing somebody on the basis of their comments (even if the comments are horrific) unless it is a specific threat is dangerous, but at the same time, there is also pressure on enforcement authorities to read these indicators early.

16 year old boy sues his own mother for hacking his Facebook account

The relation between kids (especially teenagers) and their parents can get a bit testy sometimes, but you expect all such disagreements to be resolved in the privacy of your own home. What happens when a 16 year old files a case against his own mother for invasion of his privacy and hacking his online account, and the mother fights back claiming that till he is an adult, she is responsible for his well being. Well, as a judge, you would wish that you do not get such cases that are moral problems, and where any decision could be challenged (link to article):

A 16-year-old boy from Arkansas is suing his mother for harassment, claiming that she hacked his Facebook account and posted slanderous remarks, according to Arkansas TV station KATV Thursday. The mother, Denise New, denied the charges, claiming that her son left his Facebook page open on her computer and that she was entitled to take over his account because he had posted incriminating information on his Facebook page.
"Oh yeah, I'm going to fight it. If I have to go even higher up, I'm going to. I'm not gonna let this rest. I think this could be a precedent-setting moment for parents," she told KATV-TV. "You're within your legal rights to monitor your child and to have a conversation with your child on Facebook whether it's his account, or your account or whoever's account."

A worker getting fired - claimed she was ill, but was found to be well enough to use Facebook

Social tools such as Facebook are very engrossing; companies are finding that their employees are spending more time on such sites, and in fact, they are getting banned in some companies because of the perceived impact on productivity. Given that Facebook allows a number of people to be able to view what you are doing (if you post), and if you are on the Friends list, you can get a good deal of information from the posts and also from the photos. Facebook is also being referred in divorce cases, since people post information without really thinking through the consequences, and such evidence is being used by courts to a large extent. In this case, the lady had claimed that she was suffering from migraine, and was too ill to be using a computer, not realizing that the company was tracking her updates, and they finally fired her (link to article):

A Swiss woman has lost her job after her employers spotted she was using the Facebook website when she had claimed to be too ill to use a computer. The unnamed woman was suffering a migraine and had told her employer, Nationale Suisse, she needed to lie in a darkened room.
But the company says it followed a simple logic: that those who are well enough to use Facebook with a migraine are well enough to work with a migraine.

Getting arrested for a Facebook poke

A Facebook poke is a pretty innocent event, with many of us even ignoring when somebody gives us a poke. However, when you combine the 'online' world with the real world, you end up in dangerous zones or questions that are only resolved by courts. Consider the case when a person has been warned by a court against communicating in any way with somebody else, and a facebook poke happens. Is this a violation of the court order, or will the 'poke' be seen as a continuation of the earlier activities that led to the restraint order ?
A court resolved this to some degree by finding the person in this case guilty of violating the restraining order, and was sent to jail with a bail set at $1500. Now, the person faces a possible jail sentence and a fine (link to article):

Beware: a Facebook poke could land you behind bars. Just ask Shannon D. Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, who faces that very real possibility.
Jackson was arrested and transported to Sumner County Jail on September 25th with a bond set at $1,500 after she violated an order of protection by allegedly poking a woman on Facebook. The alleged poke broke the terms of the court order: “no telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner.”

Setting up a pro-rape group on Facebook

Rape is one of the instruments related to subjugation of women, and is viewed by society as an abomination. Rape is supposed to be such an insult to a woman that in most countries, the name of the rape victim is not reported, and the perpetrator is sentenced to long terms in prison. In such a situation, one would expect educated (and from premiere institutions) young men to be very careful, and yet you have a case where these young men created a pro-rape and anti-consent group on Facebook and it was only when it got controversial that this group was closed (link):

Members of an elite Australian college linked to Sydney University provoked outrage on Tuesday after it was revealed they had set up a “pro-rape” group on social networking site Facebook. The page, set up by mostly past and present students at the all-male residential college St Paul’s, called itself “Define Statutory” and described itself as “pro-rape, anti-consent”, local media reports said. It has since been taken down.
Sydney University vice-chancellor Michael Spence said he was “appalled by the reported behaviour and apparent attitudes of some students”. “There can be no excuses for sexual assault,” he said in a statement. “The university and the residential colleges have been working hard to bring about a change in attitudes and behaviour. Obviously we still have much to do.”