Chris Kim
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9063100
"$665,000 stolen from Downingtown School District recovered" When money gets stolen from schools, it is often the work of someone close to the school: teachers, students, even parents. However, in April, a school in Pennsylvania noticed that money left their accounts and was sent to several foreign banks. The police and FBI got involved and were eventually able to recover the money. However, this case of stolen money wasn't from people who could access those accounts from normal means, but from "sophisticated cyber criminals" who decided to target this school district.
The disinhibition associated with this crime was likely dissociative anonymity, where the criminals felt that they could do anything since they aren't physically involved in the crime. Although the criminals had likely attended school before and probably know how much the schools are struggling, they felt that they could steal money from the school district since it's not them doing it-but their online persona.
Brian Ly
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-of-girl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-web-sites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 In the city of Lakeland, Florida, a young 12-year-old girl by the name of Rebecca Anne Sedwick jumped to her death from an abandoned cement plant. The reason by her suicide was linked through a series of bullying by 15 middle-school children via texting and photo-sharing apps. Prior, when Rebecca had faced bullying, by which her mother took action by pulling her out of school, deactivating her Facebook, and changing her cellphone number. It was to the extent that Rebecca had to be hospitalized. Though everything seemed fine in time for Rebecca as she started up school again, the bullying began to start as Rebecca used smaller, lesser known apps, such as ask.fm, Kik, and Voxer, unbeknownst to her mother. While her mother had taken action, her lack of awareness of communication through these apps left her blind to what bullying took place just before Rebecca's suicide. Rebecca had received messages saying things such as "Why are you still alive?" and "You're ugly." The availability of information on the internet has also allowed Rebecca to look up suicide information, such as how much Advil was necessary for an overdose. Likely attributed out of fear of having her cellphone taken away again, Rebecca hid the fact that she was bullying from her mother, leaving her suicide to be a sudden, unexpected result. This crime is a prime example of cyber bullying. in particular, the disinhibition that can be observed in this crime is Invisibility. As Rebecca knew who these bullies, namely, the 15 middle-school children, were in real life, it may not seem to necessarily be dissociative at first, but due to the medium by which the crime was committed, via cellphone apps, it can be seen that since the bullies, despite their physical appearance being known by the victim, committed their crime through text-driven and photo-sharing interactions, which did not involve physical interactions, they felt a sense of disconnection from their crimes, not thinking about what real life consequences actions taken in an online realm may have. Since the crime was committed through a cellphone app, the bullies' inhibition was lowered, leading them to act in a way they may not act in real life.
Tim Wang
Victoria Bravo: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-fbi-arrests-19yearold-temecula-man-in-sextortion-of-miss-teen-usa-20130926,0,4113341.story?track=rss This Los Angeles Times article told the story of a man from Temecula named Jared James Abrahams, who hacked onto—among others’—Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf’s computer and proceeded to “sextort” her. The FBI became involved and arrested the suspect earlier this year, obtaining evidence such as “computers and hardware, cellphones and hacking software.” His motivation behind extorting these women was to instill fear in them so that they would send nude photos, videos or have a five Skype chat with him. It was noted that virtual forms of extortion have become a new, popular vehicle for criminals. Dissociative anonymity, as described by John Suler, can be noted as the disinhibiting effect behind this cyber crime. Dissociative anonymity allows for people to perform certain acts that they would not normally do if they could be linked to them. The anonymity factor is appealing for criminals such as Abrahams, who are able to hide behind the Internet, in the form of emails, in order to perform illegal acts. By using the internet to commit his crimes, he was able to disconnect from them, which in turn led to the “suspension of morals,” as noted by Suler in his article. Had his name been linked to his emails, Abrahams may have been less inclined to extort Wolf, because he would have been held directly responsible for his actions.
Brian Ly
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-of-girl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-web-sites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 In the city of Lakeland, Florida, a young 12-year-old girl by the name of Rebecca Anne Sedwick jumped to her death from an abandoned cement plant. The reason by her suicide was linked through a series of bullying by 15 middle-school children via texting and photo-sharing apps. Prior, when Rebecca had faced bullying, by which her mother took action by pulling her out of school, deactivating her Facebook, and changing her cellphone number. It was to the extent that Rebecca had to be hospitalized. Though everything seemed fine in time for Rebecca as she started up school again, the bullying began to start as Rebecca used smaller, lesser known apps, such as ask.fm, Kik, and Voxer, unbeknownst to her mother. While her mother had taken action, her lack of awareness of communication through these apps left her blind to what bullying took place just before Rebecca's suicide. Rebecca had received messages saying things such as "Why are you still alive?" and "You're ugly." The availability of information on the internet has also allowed Rebecca to look up suicide information, such as how much Advil was necessary for an overdose. Likely attributed out of fear of having her cellphone taken away again, Rebecca hid the fact that she was bullying from her mother, leaving her suicide to be a sudden, unexpected result. This crime is a prime example of cyber bullying. in particular, the disinhibition that can be observed in this crime is Invisibility. As Rebecca knew who these bullies, namely, the 15 middle-school children, were in real life, it may not seem to necessarily be dissociative at first, but due to the medium by which the crime was committed, via cellphone apps, it can be seen that since the bullies, despite their physical appearance being known by the victim, committed their crime through text-driven and photo-sharing interactions, which did not involve physical interactions, they felt a sense of disconnection from their crimes, not thinking about what real life consequences actions taken in an online realm may have. Since the crime was committed through a cellphone app, the bullies' inhibition was lowered, leading them to act in a way they may not act in real life.
Autum Boulais
Chris “Birdman” Andersen of the Miami Heat was the victim of an internet impersonation scheme. A small town Canadian woman hacked into Andersen’s computer, assumed his identity, as well as the identity of a 17-year-old girl who had been sending Andersen fan mail, and then played them against each other in an effort to extort money and gifts. Andersen was served with a search warrant of his home and his computer, cell phone and other electronics were seized. No files were charged against Andersen. The case spanned across the jurisdictions of Colorado, Los Angeles, and Miami, before leading investigators to the perpetrator’s home in Canada. She was arrested and facing charges of possessing and transmitting child pornography, impersonation, extortion and uttering threats.
The perpetrator was able to use Dissociative Anonymity to conceal her real identity, as it is easy to use fake names and email addresses. By having this shield of anonymity, she could have her felt less vulnerable to the consequences of acting out through online impersonation, while protecting her real life identity. Asynchronicity allowed her to control the pace of the conversations through email and message boards. Her perfectly timed feedback loop created a space for benign or toxic disinhibition to happen. Solipstic Introjection and Minimization of Status can explain why Andersen and the 17 year old girl became victims. They both played a part in attaching a psychological presence or “voice” to the emails they were receiving. The person behind the emails became real for them, and they both believed they were communicating with the person whose name was in the email. Additionally, Andersen’s status in real-life did not transfer over into the online world. Although he can afford the best protections for himself in the real world, his status did nothing to protect him from victimization in the online realm. If anything, his real life status made him a bigger target for this scam to take place.
Shane McDonough
Soc 167, Fall 2013
News Article/Disinhibition Assignment:
12 Year Old receives Death Threats on Ask.fm, Contemplates Suicide
Kierah Gowers, a 12 year old girl from Blackpool, Lancashire, England, recently considered suicide after being bullied and receiving death threats on the website Ask.fm. The Latvian-based social network site allows users to ask each other questions anonymously. Some of the messages she received from anonymous bullies include: “Go drink bleach it will kill you or you could cut really deep”, and “If you don’t kill yourself now I will do it for you... kill you, your family and everyone that you love.” Luckily, Kierah showed her mother, Kerry Gowers, the messages before acting on her thoughts of suicide, and her mother was able to get her off of the site, close her account, and contact the authorities. Though Lancashire police were informed of the situation, they have been unable to act because the threats and harassments were all posted anonymously, making the perpetrators difficult to trace.
In terms of Suler’s Online Dishibition Effect, the bullies’ online threats and harassments represent a clear example of “Dissociative Anonymity” which Suler describes as instances "when people have the opportunity to separate their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity” making them “feel less vulnerable about … acting out.” Individuals can dissociate the bad things they say and do online from their “real” offline lives. People deny responsibility for hateful actions they execute online as though they’ve lost the ability to morally regulate what they say online. Often, the hateful online actions are seen as separate from the individual’s self-concept. Whoever posted all that awful stuff one Kierah’s account most likely didn’t consider it a part of their offline identity. In real life, they would not approach a 12-year old girl and tell her to kill herself. It was the anonymity of the online space that created this opportunity to say such hateful things without consequences
Additionally, Kierah became a victim as a result of what Suler refers to as
“Invisibility”. Invisibility is different from anonymity because, though information about the person posting online may be known (in this case, Kierah’s Ask.fm profile had her name and pictures of her), the poster needn’t worry about how he/she looks/sounds when he/she posts opinions, idea, thoughts, etc. Through Ask.fm, Kierah was able to answer questions posed to her and express herself without being physically seen. As Suler puts it: “Seeing a frown, a shaking head, a sigh, a bored expression, and many other subtle and not so subtle signs of disapproval or indifference can inhibit what people are willing to express.” But in the absence of these non-verbal cues, a person posting online is able to speak his/her mind without having to worry about embarrassment, shyness, and self-consciousness. Though such a tool might be useful to help a young girl like Kierah step out of her shell, the ability to post on Ask.fm also left her more vulnerable to text-based attacks and bullying. Kierah bared her soul on this website, only to be told awful things. Essentially, the message sent to this young impressionable girl was: “Now that the world can see all you have to say about all of your opinions we all think you are awful and should die”. Thus the setup of the website created the perfect storm for Kierah to become victimized. Her case is not the first of it’s kind associated with the website and in recent months there has been a great deal of investigation into the issue of bullying on the site.
Sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10303300/Schoolgirl-threatened-suicide-following-bullying-on-Ask.fm.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2417671/If-dont-kill-I-Sick-posting-Ask-fm-website-drove-schoolgirl-12-brink-suicide.html
David Zhang
Sociology Homework 2
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-china-arrest-rumors-internet-20130921,0,2831881.story
The Chinese government has placed into effect its Draconian Law, which allows the law to
punish online rumors in China. Yang, a Chinese Junior-high-student, is one of the first to break the
new Draconian law through spreading online rumors. Yang suggested that the police did not properly
investigate the death of a man who fell from the second story of a karaoke bar because a local court
official had a stake in the club. Later, Yang posted on his QQ account “where is the justice?” and the
message was reposted over 900 times, which is more than enough for the government to detain any
Chinese citizen. Many activists have come to his defense as well as his lawyer. Yang says he is a young
man with certain bad habits, but he believes in acting as a good person.
In John Suler’s article, “Online Disinhibition Effect,” Suler describes the phenomenon of the
online disinhibition effect as a means for someone to act in an abnormal behavior. This effect allows a
person to act in a manner which may be beneficial or detrimental to their peers. This can be defined as
benign disinhibition or toxic disinhibition. Each disinhibition effect can be caused by one of six factors. In
response to the 16 year old Chinese student, Suler’s critique of the student’s actions is defined through
the factor minimization of authority. Suler explains that the internet is a zone in which everyone has the
same opportunity to voice themselves regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc. Suler
states the internet is barrier to one’s identity; thus, allowing anyone the power to speak out. In addition,
Suler states that the internet provides a space where authority feels minimized. In conjunction to Suler’s
points, many people are more willing to speak out against higher authority such as Yang, who spoke out
against his government. In terms of Suler, Yang may have felt that the chat site, QQ, was more of a peer
reviewed site rather than an authoritative site. Because of this, Yang may have felt safe contradicting
the government and questioning the thoroughness of the police investigation. As stated earlier, Yang
believed there was a conflict of interest between the officials and the victim. In addition, Yang used the
internet to shroud his image, which proves that any person whether they are young or old, rich or poor
can affect the agenda of the government. Last but not least, there is a clear association that Yang’s
disinhibition pertains more to benign disinhibition because he was going out of his way to provide
justice for person who may have been murdered. It is clear to see that Yang’s criminal case was caused
mainly by the minimization of authority factor which leads to his benign disinhibition. From this case, we
can see how the internet can have good effects on a person’s conscience; however, there may be
consequences for those who step outside of the norm. In Yang’s case, he has been detained for speaking
out against his government.
Qiqi Zhen
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/man-duped-500k-in-online-romance-scam-1.1870043
"Tony" falls victim to an online dating scam that eventually led to a loss of half a million dollars. They met at a dating site, and after 6 weeks, the man said that he had been detained by corrupt authority. The man asked for loans from "Tony" as the authorities demanded bribes which eventually totaled to half a million. "Tony" even cashed in his retirement savings in order to help who he thought was the man of his life. When he realized that it was a scam, "Tony" hired detectives to see where the money was transferred to. It led to two men, who are part of a ring of scammers that target victims who are looking for love. While one of the men had been arrested, "Tony" might not be able to recover the money lost.
Within the different types of disinhibition introduced by Suler in "The Online Disinhibition Effect," the scammer closely relates to dissociative anonymity. The scam targets people looking for love. Through anonymity, the scammer can learn about their victim and pretend to be the person that their victim is seeking for easily; they could adopt a fake identity and adapt to their victim's tastes. Using this fake identity, the scammer might not feel that it relates to them at all, therefore, they don't feel a connection with others since the person they are pretending to be are not their real selves. This anonymity also allows the scammers to easily drop contact with their victim as soon as they get the money, and not deal with the consequences of their actions. Dissociative anonymity therefore encourages the perpetrators to act due to the thought that their real identities are masked and thus can escape from the consequences of their actions.
Tim Wang
This story is about 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick who was bullied through various forms of social media, which drove her to commit suicide. The article suggests and attributes some of the blame to users of a website similar to ask.fm, where users can ask questions to other users anonymously. Of course, there is no barrier or checker that actually verifies if a query submitted is legitimately a question or just a hate message or statement. The users whom bullied Sedwick chose to abuse the system and gave her “questions” of similar nature to the following:
• “Go kill yourself.”
• “Why are you still alive?”
I feel that the most likely cause of this young girl’s suicide is dissociative anonymity on the criminals’ side, and partially on the victim’s side. On the criminals’ side, they hide in the safety of anonymity so that they can torture their victim without being identified. This disinhibition gives them the feeling that they will not have to deal with any consequences The victim may also feel a slight degree of disinhibition because the anonymity may create a sense of generality. It can appear as though any arbitrary person wants her to die, which can amplify the malicious message that the criminals are sending.
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