Malicious Websites

[sqdge]

Has anyone had to deal with malicious content being published on sites (like Bebo) about teachers?

We have discovered a number of different sites, none of which are very pleasant. The police are now involved, but they seem unable to do anything.

If anyone has any idea what could be done, then it would be good to hear from you.

[_Bat_]

How did you find the sites?

[FN-GM]

Try contact BEBO about it maybe, im unsure what to do in cases like this

[sqdge]

How did you find the sites?

Typing the school name into Google and following links. Also, some kids have pointed them out to us.

[sqdge]

Try contact BEBO about it maybe, im unsure what to do in cases like this

We tried to contact Bebo - but there are no direct contacts on the site, and the WHOIS information gives the phone number of an airline. Short of travelling out to San Francisco to meet the creator, we appear to be a little stuck.

The most difficult part is working out who created the page.

[FN-GM]

Trick them somehow pretnend your a student

[tom_newton]

Is Bebo banned in School?
If not, i would be inclined to do so. Perhaps rescind some other internet based privs until the guilty party is unmasked - and can then remove the offending items him/herself.

To be honest, you will have little joy in contacting the likes of Bebo and myspace, more's the pity.

[FN-GM]

it probably is banned at there school but this doesnt stop the kids from doing this at home

[Geoff]

If they aren't doing this in school hours or on school property it's not the schools problem.

[FN-GM]

if its the teachers they are targeting it is isnt it?

[Geoff]

No. The teacher can complain to the police (depends on the nature of the of the content but stalking/harassment is a good place to start) or deal with it personally by taking civil legal action under common law (libel, invasion of privacy, etc).

If the school attempts to extend control over the pupil(s) beyond it's mandated 'school hours' then the school is breaching the pupil(s) Human Rights.

[pete]

If they aren't doing this in school hours or on school property it's not the schools problem.

Er, it is a bit. The school has a duty to protect their employees and ensure a healthy working environment. Punishing the offenders via civil suit / whatever is a separate issue.

We've had a youtube problem with a member of staff being fooled into helping with "drama videos" . The kids edited it and posted it. We saw it as our duty (legally or not) to protect an employee from ridicule likely to impact their ability to do their job.

We flagged the videos as inappropriate / failing to have actors permission and Youtube were prompt in taking the videos down.

We also had a hotmail problem (out of school, kids bullying). We did the legwork, contacted the involved ISPs and handed the info over to the police (explaining how mail headers work was painful). AFAIK, nothing has come of it.

If you know which bebo user has the images, can you grep a copy of your proxy logs to work out who was logging in to that account?

Use the contact form to explain the situation and then ask around in nanae or similar newsgroups / mailing lists for abuse contacts at bebo. There's been sufficient publicity about stuff like this on myspace that the bebo admins should investigate. I'm assuming abuse@bebo.com works, but I've no idea if anyone checks it / passes it on to the right person.

[j17sparky]

But what are you ment to do about it?


If a kids decides to slag off a teacher to his mates (in person) out of school hours, what can you do? This is no differant.

Like Geoff said, he/she or the school could take cival action but apart from that i cant see what else you can do

[localzuk]

There is a difference between published materials and verbal insults between children. Published material can be libelous and as such illegal.

If the school does not act to protect the employee from its pupils it could be seen that they are not being responsible as employers.

[j17sparky]

Yes but like i say, what are you ment to do about it?

Apart from contacting Bebo to get the content removed, which obviously isnt going to happen, what else is possible? You cant just ban every kid in the school from using the internet until the guilty party is found.

In order for you to take legal action against someone you need to know who it is.

The school are oviously trying to find out who it was but I really cant see what else the school can do to protect the teacher.