Sexting and Cyberbullying: Defining the Line for Digitally Empowered Kids by Shaheen Shariff

Author:Shaheen Shariff
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub, pdf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2015-01-31T08:00:00+00:00

Mackie said he is keenly aware that he will be making a constitutional argument to drop the convictions against his client while the federal government is moving to strengthen Canada’s laws against cyberbullying. Referring to Bill C-13, the defense lawyer noted that the proposed law will give police greater powers to investigate allegations of cyberbullying by giving courts (and thereby the police) the right to seize computers, phones, and other devices used in alleged offenses. In the interests of due process of youth, he noted that the constitutional argument is “a necessary step in the process of fighting this fight” (as cited in Meissner, 2014).

While I tend to agree that child pornography laws seem inappropriate when applied to children, I am skeptical of any real basis to the specific constitutional claim being presented, namely, the analogy being made to the sharing of intimate images. Although the original images where shared between the ex-girlfriend and her then boyfriend, the images that were texted by the defendant were not between two consenting teenagers. Rather, it was an act committed by one teenage girl without the permission of the other. In fact, Saanich Sergeant Steve Eassie claims that the charges against the teen were pursued in the first place because of this lack of consent. Eassie explained: “The accused began using the photos for the purpose of bullying. It’s very unfortunate” (Dickson, 2013). To this extent, this case can be differentiated from the typical sexting situation between a boyfriend and girlfriend, both minors or otherwise. Notably, in handing down the judgment, Judge Wishart observed that this type of conviction was not the intent of child pornography laws and that hopefully cyberbullying laws that are more relevant to the offense will be passed, thereby avoiding the need to use child pornography laws.

In the meantime, child pornography charges have also been laid against the ten Laval teenage boys who captured and distributed screenshots of intimate images sent to them by female classmates. The boys’ hearings have been postponed twice as of the writing of this book. The latest hearings have been deferred. I outline some pertinent details of this case in the section that follows.

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