Central city staff by KSB School Law

Get Informed about Students and Social Media Karen Haase (402) 804-8000 karen@ksbschoollaw.com KSB School Law @KarenHaase

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State v. Clemmens  Arrested within a few hours  Charged with making terroristic threats  Sentenced to • 5 months probation • Banned in 4 counties • 2 years of no social media

Snapchat

Snapchat  New features in the latest updates  Snapchat Stories  Replay videos (one per day)  “Best Friends”  Ability to send money

In re Juvenile John Does (Fairfax Co. Va 2013)

 Girls Snapchatted video to boy  He forwarded screenshots to friends  Three boys arrested at school  Each charged with 12 counts of distribution of child pornography  Found guilty, appealing sentences

Nebraska Law  Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-813 et. seq.  Makes sexting (images) a class IV felony for offenders under 19  Class IIIA felony for 19 and up  Both punishable by: • • •

Up to 5 years in prison and/or $10,000 fine Require sex offender registration

Criminal Implications  Affirmative Defense: •

the picture is only of the defendant;

• • • • • • •

defendant was younger than 19 picture is of someone at least 15 picture was taken voluntarily picture was given voluntarily picture contains only one child defendant hasn’t shared the picture; AND defendant didn’t coerce taking or sending

Kik Messenger

Kik Messenger  App that blends texting with lots of cool social networking features  The app itself is slick  Secretive -- not overrun with parents.  No character limits, free and quick  Messages not counted against SMS  Tells users when message has been sent, delivered, and read  Fun array of related apps

Managing Kik Messenger  The app itself specifies that users should be over the age of 17  No parental controls few privacy settings  Heavily associated with sexual predators, sextortion, and cyberbullying.  No follow-up options for users who experience problems  Integration with Instagram: “Kik me @ (Kik username)”

Managing Kik Messenger  A privacy “bad guy”  One of the few apps I have forbidden my kids to use  Free texting is appealing to parents but at what other cost?

Ask.fm

Ask.fm  Social media in question and answer format  “The ask.fm service allows for anonymous content which ask.fm does not monitor. You agree to use the ask.fm service at your own risk and that ask.fm shall have no liability to you for content that you may find objectionable, obscene or in poor taste.”

Ask.fm  One user can block another user and must give a reason. A blocked person can still access the profile to view all other interactions.  The site can be used anonymously  Users cannot increase privacy settings  Integrated with Facebook and Twitter

Polk County, Fla. case  Student bullied on ask.fm and Kik Messenger • “Why aren't you dead?” • “You should die.” • “Wait a minute, why are you still alive?” • “Go kill yourself.”  “Yes ik I bullied REBECCA nd she killed her self but IDGAF”

Vine

Vine  Video sharing service similar to Twitter  All videos on 6 second loop  No privacy settings – ALL profiles are public  LOTS of inappropriate content  Also used for cyberbullying and sexting

Yik Yak

Rumor/Confession Accounts

Rumor/Confession Accounts  Anonymous Twitter feeds  Allow other Twitter handles to submit private messages to the owner of the rumor account  Messages are tweeted “anonymously” for anyone to read  Some mention specific people, others are general

Poof

Hide it Pro

Poof/Hide It ď&#x201A;§ Allows users to select apps that will be hidden on phone ď&#x201A;§ Sometimes appears as innocuous app (e.g. audio player, calculator)

Whisper

Whisper • Users can post confessions anonymously, using images • Searchable by topic • Searchable by location • Lot of photos of scantily clad men and women with a/s/l

Down (Bang with Friends)

Down/BWF  Users can look through Facebook friends  If any of them also have the app then you can anonymously pick the ones would like hook up with  If the other person also picks you then the two of you are notified  Then app serves as a chat system

Inappropriate Teacher/Student Relationships

Nebraska Incidents  Relationships with recent graduates  Relationships with current students –High school –Middle school –Elementary  Extortion for Grades

Cyberbullying of Staff

J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Middle School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Initially public; then limited • Students could only access off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; parents sued

Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. High School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Other students created similar and more offensive profiles • Students only accessed off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; placed in alt. sch, banned from extracurriculars, no commencement

J.S. and Layshock Inconsistent  Third Circuit granted en banc rehearing  Oral Argument June 3, 2010  Decision issued June 13, 2011  The Bottom Line? •

Schools lost both cases

J.S. and Layshock  Key legal points • School can’t punish off-campus speech because it is vulgar, inappropriate or even criminal • School can only punish offcampus speech that is substantially disruptive

Get Informed about Students and Social Media

Karen Haase (402) 804-8000 karen@ksbschoollaw.com KSB School Law @KarenHaase