LM December 2015

Legal reality of blogger & social media attacks

bloggers hide behind anonymity. Some recent court decisions have supported the release of an anonymous blogger’s information where the published material reaches a certain level of harassment and/or defamation, but, again, this is costly and time consuming. Illinois does have criminal statutes that prohibit cyber harassment and cyber stalking. However, this would require police and state’s attorney involvement and the prosecution bar is pretty high given the First Amendment and various other statutory protections of public expression against public officials. This leaves our most common recommendation: Rather than spend time and energy on the negative, tell the other story by focusing your time and attention on the good things that you and others in your school district do each day to maximize the success of each student. The goal is always to stay above the fray, to take the high road. The most heinous blogs almost

Imagine these two scenarios: An anonymous blogger tags you in every post on their infamous blog full of lies and misinformation (anonymous blogging), or A text or number shows up on your cell phone from an individual that can only bring damage. You later learn that the person never texted/called, but rather it was done through a mobile app from someone else’s cell with ill intent (caller ID spoofing). To most, these types of

By Sara G. Boucek, IASA Associate Director/ Legal Counsel

behaviors are unexplainable, incomprehensible and seen for what they plainly and simply are: hurtful and vile. However, in today’s society, hiding behind

technology has become not just a child’s game, but one adults engage in at alarming rates. For some, it has become the new normal and, unfortunately, the laws have yet to fully catch up. In my eight years with the IASA, not a week goes by that we do not help an administrator with these types of actions and the effects of some sort of adult cyber bullying and/or harassment. Most websites and research focuses on school- aged cyberbullying and

always self-implode due to their absurdity. Work together with shared community groups and parents’ organizations to establish the positive without directly responding to and/or answering the blogger’s misinformed nonsense. I would love to report that this works every single time, but, alas, it does not. However, in the end, remember this saying by Mark Twain, “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

Without a doubt, there needs to be more research and further expansion of the laws pertaining to adult cyber bullying/harassment. Our laws have yet to find a balance between First Amendment rights and the general public’s right to question the conduct of school administrators and public officials versus the effect of blogs and actions aimed to skirt the law and misinform the public. Until that time, we have to continue to be the positive stewards of public education and the outstanding work you all do everyday. We remain committed to partnering with you through the process and our legal and communications teams stand ready to assist when necessary. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

harassment, with little focus on adult conduct and actions. Most could understand why, right? One would hope that once we reach adulthood we have learned not to engage in such behavior. However, research and practice paints a different picture. So, what do we do? The first step is to seek out assistance from both the school district’s legal counsel, as well as through our association. The starting point is a plan to deal with the behavior. The next step is to review the content for untrue and unsupported statements in an attempt to build a potential case for defamation, libel or slander. These types of lawsuits are often costly and hard to litigate, especially given a school administrator’s status as a public figure. The situation is further compounded by the fact that most of these

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