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 [email protected] works, but I've no idea if anyone checks it / passes it on to the right person.

[Guest Guest]

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.

[Guest Guest]

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.

[localzuk]

Ah, but what you have just described is the school doing something - the school should do as much as it can to help find the culprit.

 

For example, a bit of pressure usually reveals the person (say by blocking internet access to all sites except those used by staff) - the kids will soon let slip who it is.

 

It isn't against anyone's human rights to do this, as providing internet access is not a human right.

[Geoff]

No. You can't do that. Your abusing your pupils rights. If you want to lean on anyone, lean on the parents. They are the only people in a position to tell the pupils what to do out of school hours.

[triggmiester]

I recently had a problem with an ex student who had made up a bebo page about a teacher, now while there wass nothing malicious about the staff member, she wasn't happy about it being there. So I clicked the link to contact Bebo, told them what had happened and within two days they hd removed the link.

I also regularly search bebo with our school name (luckily it only brings up about 10 pages) look around the usual suspects, and if there are any of teachers, or videos of kids in class when they should be working, it goes to head of year. Recently had a student post some pictures that were taken in class, some of them were innappropriate, letter home to parents and problem sorted. I realise though its not always as easy as this for some schools

[localzuk]

No. You can't do that. Your abusing your pupils rights. If you want to lean on anyone, lean on the parents. They are the only people in a position to tell the pupils what to do out of school hours.

 

What rights are being abused? They don't have a right to internet access... It is a luxury item provided as an aid to teaching.

[Geoff]

What rights are being abused?

 

Freedom of Expression.

 

They don't have a right to internet access... It is a luxury item provided as an aid to teaching.

 

And if the material is posted at home on their own PC in their own time?

[localzuk]

What rights are being abused?

Freedom of Expression.

 

Sorry but having access to a the internet or not is not a freedom of expression issue and I don't see how it could be, with it being a luxury specifically provided for the use as an educational tool. Restricting it specifically for educational use would not be infringing anything, it would be removing a privilege, not a right.

 

They don't have a right to internet access... It is a luxury item provided as an aid to teaching.

 

And if the material is posted at home on their own PC in their own time?

 

If it still relates to a member of staff in the school then it is relevant to the school and should be followed up to the best of the school's ability - including putting pressure on the kids in school.

[Geoff]

Sorry but having access to a the internet or not is not a freedom of expression issue and I don't see how it could be, with it being a luxury specifically provided for the use as an educational tool. Restricting it specifically for educational use would not be infringing anything, it would be removing a privilege, not a right.

 

In school, you are correct. But that was not the context I was talking about.

 

They don't have a right to internet access... It is a luxury item provided as an aid to teaching.

 

And if the material is posted at home on their own PC in their own time?

 

If it still relates to a member of staff in the school then it is relevant to the school and should be followed up to the best of the school's ability - including putting pressure on the kids in school.

 

No, you can't do that. You're trampling all over your pupils Human Rights. What you can do is (in order of severity):

 

A) Work with the parents (who are in a position to 'deal' with the pupils out of school.)

B) Work with the teacher involved (who can bring civil action against the pupils and/or their parents).

C) Work with the Police (who can bring criminal charges and/or a eventual prosecution).

 

Fine if you don't want to follow my advice (after all IANAL) but history suggests it'll end in tears. For example ACLU v. Ashcroft (dealing with a situation much more severe than this, but was ultimately trumped by the US 1st amendment). Here's further reading on the case if your interested:

 

http://www.epic.org/free_speech/copa/

http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/internet/onlinefreespeech.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Online_Protection_Act

[localzuk]

That is the USA, with a completely different legal system to the UK. It is not infringing on rights - you have still not shown what rights would be infringed by restricting a luxury which is there for education.

[Geoff]

That is the USA, with a completely different legal system to the UK.

 

1st amendment rights in the USA are analogous to Article 7 of the Human Rights Act.

 

The original US 1st Amendment is as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

The EU Human Rights Act Article Ten is as follows:

Everyone has the right of freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without inference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

 

So actually, the EU version is broader than the US one due to the use of 'expression' rather than 'speech'. Now, I'm not blaming anyone for not being familiar with these laws. We've only had them for ten years or so and their full effect has not been realised.

 

It is not infringing on rights - you have still not shown what rights would be infringed by restricting a luxury which is there for education.

 

Clearly I'm not explaining myself very well.

 

I agree with you that in school grounds or during school hours or when using school equipment then the school has the unquestionable ability to revoke pupils ability to use computers, the internet, email, the bathroom, chairs, shoelaces, left handed doors or whatever else the school feels is appropriate punishment. The ultimate punishment being exclusion/expulsion from school.

 

However off school grounds, out of school hours, or when not using school equipment none of these measures can be applied. Indeed, the school has no authority to do so. It's not a police force and shouldn't try to be one.

 

For example, you cannot say "Anyone who uses MySpace, Facebook or BeBo in school or at home will be suspended". You can't do this because Article 10 doesn't allow it. The school is most definitely a public body and Article 10 makes no exceptions for different mediums of expression. In fact it specifically says that there is no limit to the type of medium that can be used to 'express' ideas. Unless you need a license to use it. Last time I checked, you didn't need a government license to surf the net or post a blog (maybe next year eh?).

[alonebfg]

I argree here and this is why unions have a very good legal system. If it is slander or abusive towards a member of staff the child/childs parents can be taken to court. As free speech is one of them things that can be good in one way but bad in another way. This is a very good website to use have a lok i have posted the factsheet on the law in dussion. http://www.internetrights.org.uk/briefings/irtb09-rev1-draft.pdf This is the bit of intrest

Defamation can be published in two forms:

1.Verbal transmission is classed as slander - and because only the spoken word is involved, slander can often be difficult to prove;

2.Written transmission is classed as libel - a case for libel is easier to bring because evidence of the defamation can be documented, and this is the usual form of action taken for defamation.