Read through the following article.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10440709/Philadelphia-police-probe-Instagram-account-identifying-witness-rats.html
Discuss the ethics involved in this issue. Do individuals have the right to post this kind of page on a public social networking site? Should Instagram be held responsible for the consequences that are wrought from the account's posting? (Please do NOT discuss whether or not it is right for the owner of this account to post what he/she did. That is a moot point.)
Make sure to bring in other relevant current events or real-life issues that would enhance your discussion. Be prepared for your post to be read and responded to by your classmates.
PLEASE NOTE: Your comment is due by FRIDAY, November 15 at 3:30.
Nisha Singh
ReplyDeletePeople have the right to express their feelings but they do not have the right
to post these kind of pages on social network. Instagram should not be help
responsible because one account messed up. One action should not bring down
others. People have the right to post whatever they want, but it's up to them to
make the right choices. Instagram has options , you can can report post that are
offensive. Bullying happens world wide, people are bullied through social media.
But it is the bullies fault not the owners fault. It is not their fault people
in today's society do not know how to act properly.
STAY SWEEGGY RAYYY RAY
I agree completely with Nisha. Instagram does a great job of taking care of inappropriate posts. I have reported several pictures and Instagram has removed them not long after. However, they should not be punished for something someone posted. They did their job by removing the post as soon as they were mad aware of it, but they can not monitor the millions of accounts that are on Instagram. Bullying is in no way right, but it still is going to happen. Instagram can only control this issue to a certain degree, and then it is out of their hands.
DeleteSydney Moore
Timothy Brown,
ReplyDeleteThe account wasn't right, and I think that the people were wrong for making an account, because the information was private, and the account was exposing private matters and court cases. However; Instagram shouldn't be held responsible, because there are literally millions of other accounts, and how can they be held responsible of that one account the can't check on every account everyday unless someone flags the account, plus Instagram can't be responsible for what people post.
Kacy Howard
ReplyDeleteI do not think people have the right to post these kinds of things on Instagram , or any social media of that kind. Also, Instagram should not be held responsible because of a person's actions on social media because Instragram does have the option to report such things. Also, there are too many stupid people and accounts for that to happend; there would be no reason. For example, if I were to see anything inappropriate on Instagram all I would have to do is report the picture and it would most likely be deleted.
Katy Howard
DeleteI, Katy, believe that Kacy's opinion is correct. Her opinion is one-hundred percent correct because no one has the right to post these things on any form of media. Also, everybody deserves privacy, and this Instagram account to this privilege away from them. Moreover, Kacy makes a great argument that Instagram should not be held responsible for the account by pointing out that Instagram has the option of reporting a photograph or video. Furthermore, Kacy's opinion was written well by giving a reasonable, valid argument.
I think that people do have the right to express their feelings, but they do not have the right to post these types of things on this networking site. Instagram should not be held responsible because it offers each photograph, or video, to be reported. It should be the person in charge of the account that is responsible. For example, one time someone put an inappropriate picture on Instagram. It was all solved when a friend of mine reported it. It was then removed. Instagram provides a way for the photograph to be removed. Furthermore, Instagram should not be held responsible because it does offer a way for people to report postings.
ReplyDeleteKaty Howard
Kacy Howard
DeleteI agree with Katy in her opinion stating that Instagram should not be held responsible for people's inappropriate post because of the ability to report a picture or video. If someone post a picture,they should be responsible for that picture and if it's inappropriate for social media they should suffer the consequences as followed.
Jana Traywick
DeleteI agree with your point that individuals do have the right to freedom of speech. As well as the fact that this person overstepped their rights. Although Instagram does have a system for blocking and/or reporting images and account, they could make a better effort to monitor what their accounts post. Especially in such a case where the account needs to be deactivated to protect other individuals.
The person does have the freedom of speech to say that but they need to watch what they put on public websites like Instagram. The information they put on the website is private and should've not been leaked on the site because it puts the witnesses in danger of being hunted down. Instagram should not be treated as a victim because they should have people monitoring their site to make sure nothing like that gets posted.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with Derrian. Instagram should not be treated as a victim. Although the owner of the account should be held responsible for his criminal act of revealing witnesses, Instagram should also be held responsible because even though it is a public site, they should have rules and terms that users must agree upon in order to own an account. In those terms and rules, there should be a clause that states that instagram will not be held accountable for any criminal offense or activity posted on your account and instagram has the right to report any such activity and remove any pictures. Instagram should also have a team that checks into suspicious accounts or users. Closing down Instagram is not the answer either because there will always be another site to leak things such as this incident; however, instagram does need to make more rules for their site and monitor their site better.
Deletesarah tisdale
I believe that people have the right to express their selves freely but in this case it is wrong because the way that they are expressing there selves is getting other people hurt or even killed. I believe that you have the right to express yourself but you are going to far when you get other people killed. i believe that instagram should be held responsible for its actions because they did not stop it soon enough and people got killed because of that. they need to worry about users privacy when it comes to that but when people are getting hurt i believe you forfeit your privacy. Tripp Harrison
ReplyDeleteI concede your argument about everyone having the right to post what they want on public social sites, like Instagram, and I appreciate your comment on how some go too far in expressing that freedom when someone gets hurt. But, Instagram truly cannot help what rats215 put. Yes, it was wrong of them to do so, but Instagram cannot watch what everyone puts on there all the time, and it is rat215's fault for abusing that freedom that they are given in joining Instagram. One app will miss some stuff amongst millions of users. It almost becomes users' responsibility: when they see an inappropriate or offensive picture that is harming someone they need to report it. Then maybe public social sites may become more clean. You had a great comment though!
Delete-Bethany Lovell
I agree that people should not post anything that can cause anyone to get hurt; however, I do not think Instagram should be held accountable in anyway. Instagam has billions of accounts all over the world and there is no possible way to carefully monitor each one. Although there are options to block and report, millions of complaints are sent in each day and and they can not all be handled. Instagram dealt with the situation the best they could when it was brought to their attention. Instagram wants people to be able to post freely. Cyber bullying (mild to extreme cases) occurs daily on all social media cites no matter how many restrictions are regulated; therefore, Instragram is not to blame for the situations.
DeleteBrooke Gilbert
The Instagram account “rats215” tests the ethics of the American Justice System because all witnesses and victims’ families have the right to remain unidentified in order to prevent them from being harassed. Individuals do not have the right to post these kinds of pictures/comments on social networking because it is confidential information and could lead to chaos and crime; however, Instagram should not be held responsible for the consequences that have arisen as a result of the posts. Instagram encourages people to report cyber bullying, and they cannot monitor the thousands of accounts 24/7 to look for corruption such as “rats215”. Cyber bullying and inappropriate topics are put on to social media everyday and it is impossible to prevent that, so it is not fair if Instagram is held accountable when it’s the users fault- not theirs.
ReplyDeletekatie irvin
I agree with Katie, because while it is true that all Americans have the right to freedom of speech, that does not apply in this situation, or any situation similar to it. The witnesses and victims have remained unidentified for a reason. It is very unethical and wrong for someone to post information like this on a social media website, when the only thing that could come from it is harm. However, like Katie mentioned, it is not Instagram's fault, because there are many ways and opportunities Instagram gives users to report inappropriate posts. It is the individual to blame- not Instagram.
DeleteKate Singley
I agree that these types of things test our justice system. Also, I agree that "rats215" should have kept this confidential information confidential Instagram should not be held responsible by anyone, but if they wanted to be professional about it, they would take some responsibility, even though it is not their fault that they cannot monitor the thousands of accounts they have.
DeleteKayla Wilkins
People have the right to post whatever they want onto their social network cites. It is everyone's choice to decide what they want people to see. For example, Miley Cyrus has recently made some very controversial music videos that involve some inappropriate action (ex. twerking, sitting naked on a wrecking ball, cutting her finger off and spewing pepto bismal, twerking, awkwardly walking around with a teddy bear on her back, and twerking.). She has gained and lost many fans from these videos and ultimately she is responsible for her action. Whether or not her videos are the best things to do for her career is up to each individual person just as it is each individual persons responsibility to decide what to put on social media. On another note, Instagram should not be responsible for the anyone's posts. They do not control what is post on the cite; they just make it available to the public. Here is a comparison: Let us say that Bill Gates (symbolic for Instagram) builds a ship(symbolic for the app) and gives it to his 6th cousin(the common user). If the 6th cousin decides to set a bomb on his ship then set the bomb off and blow the ship up, is it Bill Gates' fault or the 6th cousin. Obviously it would be the 6th cousins fault just as it would be the users fault for putting something stupid on Instagram not the Instagram company.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Chandler Roberts
I agree with Chandler Roberts that users of social media sites have the right to post whatever they want on the site. The users can control what posts they actually view by following only the accounts they want to see; therefore, individuals should have the right to post whatever they desire on these websites; however, when another person’s safety is jeopardized because of this, the account has taken it too far as in this case. Furthermore, I concur with Chandler Roberts, also known as Chan The Man on the streets, in that Instagram is not legally responsible for what was posted on this account because Instagram is just a median for social interaction.
DeleteSidhanth Chandra
I do agree that the content post on the Instagram account was wrong but I don't agree that Instagram should be treated as a victim. Instagram should monitor what people put on their site. If someone reports something on someone's account then they should monitor the account a little more than others. That also requires users to step up and report things like this so Instagram can do something about it.
DeletePeople have the constitutional right of the freedom of speech, but even with the Constitution there are exceptions to that freedom. Posting these kinds of pages on social networking websites is not acceptable because the posts are resulting in threats and people being injured, even murdered. Instagram should have some accountability because once the page came to their attention they should have at least attempted to delete the page, but Instagram should not be responsible for the consequences of the page because they could not foresee that someone would use the social network for this purpose. Instagram also cannot control what their users post without compromising their users' privacy.
ReplyDelete~Abriana Fornis
Abriana,
DeleteI'm afraid I have to disagree with you. On any social network, there is either a friend , un-friend, or follow or un-follow. Either way if you don't agree with the person you can unfollow unfriend block report ANYTHING you need to in order for you to not see what they are posting. You could even simply get off of the social network. In the first sentence you stated that people have the constitutional right of freedom of speech, and you can't change what they post. So take all the options I stated above so you want have to see pages like that.
P.S. I still love you (:
Timothy Brown
Posting this kind of page can cause serious legal issues. I think as Americas we
ReplyDeletehave the right to post what we want on any social media. I think this kind of
page is only okay to frame the guilty criminals. Anything that could bring harm
or personal hurt to a witness or victim should not be posted. It's okay to post
things that the witness or victim gives if it is approved from them. The issue
with this is that people could falsely accuse someone and cause serious damage
in that persons life. Over all it's just better to let the police handle it and
make the witness or victim take their statement to the police. However,
intsagram should not be held accountable in any way for this page because they
give the options of report and other things. They have way to many accounts to
go through and monitor, and they took care of the situation best they could once
they were aware of it. One time a mean girl accused me of certain things and
posted it on instagram and there was nothing I could do but report it and make
my friends report it. It should delete the post after at least 5 reports in my
opinion if it is reported for harassment, so the victim is not hurt like I was.
Brooke Gilbert
Jala Thomas:
DeleteI honestly agree with Brooke, because I feel like people take advantage of their freedoms. Yes, you have the right to post whatever you want on "Your" page, but accusing or putting someone up for harm on any social network can lead to dangerous situations. If you're going to put someone's personal business or info on the internet like that, at least get permission. Also, make sure you have factual information. People will lie on you in a heartbeat, and everything that people tell you does not mean that it's necessarily true. It's not the social network's fault, its the users of the account that's causing harm. As I argued in my previous response from last week, "Report" and "Spam" buttons are there for a reason. Certain things shouldn't be posted on the internet, whatsoever. It puts people's lives at risk, and you never know who's watching you through your page on any social network, so please be careful.
Social networking is a very controversial subject. Individuals should not be allowed to post content that may harm or endanger someone's life. Just as it is wrong to put up threatening pictures or statements on the street corner, it may even be worse to post this type of thing online for it can be presented to a much larger audience way quicker. Instagram should not be penalized for this account, however. Instagram had already made precautions to help prevent and stop things like this from being posted. This is the reason of the button that allows you to report stuff that can be considered violating the rules and regulations of Instagram. A few times I have seen people take advantage of this "report" button and the picture, as long as it actually violated the rules, was taken off by Instagram very urgently. - morgan house
ReplyDeleteI agree with Morgan's statement, social networking is very controversial. Many people have different opinions about what should and should not be posted over the internet. As Morgan says, it can be released to a larger audience much quicker than just posting it on a street corner. However, I do believe Instagram should be held responsible for the account to a certain extent, unlike Morgan. I believe that if the page was flagged and reported but was not taken down immediately, then Instagram should be help slightly responsible. It is Instagram's duty to take care of flagged pages and if they failed to do so, they are considered responisble. It would be the same as an indivisual bullying another and having a by-stander; they can stop the bullying from happening, but they chose not to. In this instance, the Instagram page is the bully, the indivisuals that are being uncovered from cases in the bullied, and Instagram is the by-stander. So, as Morgan makes a substantial case, Instagram should be held responsible for not taking action.
Delete-Sierra Chunko
The ethics involved in this issue revolve around when it is okay for someone’s freedom to be suppressed. Is indirectly putting others at risk too far? The account is not truly asking for harm to be done are they? These are both debatably issues that need to be addressed. Simply because the poster is only putting up pictures does not mean that he is not involved in whatever happens to the witnesses. The poster is basically putting their names up on a “hit list” for others to view. Most people knows what people do to “snitches” and by putting people’s names out there the poster is agreeing with the people who murder. He shows that he is okay with the murdering and is almost wanting these people to die. If he did not want to see them murdered, then this account would not be here. Individuals should not be allowed to post this because it affects the lives of others and not in a minimal way, such as them losing their car, but in the biggest way of all, losing their life. The car can be replaced, but you cannot replace your life. People may respond by countering that the poster has the freedom to do whatever he wants because he is not performing any crimes, but if he is indirectly asking for people to be murdered and continuing it after he knows they were, then this type of page should not be allowed to be posted. Instagram should be held responsible because they allowed this account to be up for over 150 posts of people’s private documents. Instagram’s community guidelines state that “[they] do not allow content that bullies or harasses.” This account not only harasses, but it leads to the possible death of witnesses. A bombing in Philadelphia led to the death of four women, who had been witnesses to a violent crime. They were not flaunted around on social media or anything such as that, but they were still found and removed. By allowing this kind of account to remain, it simply gives people an easier way to identify witnesses and thus more revenge killing would occur.
ReplyDelete~~Colton Herren~~
Mark Chapman~
DeleteI am choosing to defend your argument because I feel as if you expressed logical points to the class clearly and precisely. By giving an example that actually happened, (unlike Sidanth) you create your very own pathetic appeal as well as present yourself as a knowledgeable voice on the issue. I also agree with the actual argument of your argument, because of the particular case. My only complaint is that you say instagram should be held responsible. However, even though my opinion of that specific statement differs from yours, you still give a detailed reasoning as to why you believe the way you do.
XOXO, Markus
I understand that you believe Instagram should be penalized because they did not take down the account quick enough, however, I believe they should not. Instagram did nothing wrong. With the hundreds of thousands of accounts that are on Instagram, it is impossible to completely monitor every single account that is made and what they put on these accounts. Instagram has in it's terms that any content that is posted that can be considered as bullying or harassing will be taken down by the website. This is exactly what they did. This is why there is a report button, so that if any type of bullying or harassing takes place it can be reported so that it can be taken down. The account was taken down and Instagram did everything that it could have done to fix this issue, therefor they should not be penalized. - morgan house
DeleteI understand that you believe Instagram should be penalized because they did not take down the account quick enough, however, I believe they should not. Instagram did nothing wrong. With the hundreds of thousands of accounts that are on Instagram, it is impossible to completely monitor every single account that is made and what they put on these accounts. Instagram has in it's terms that any content that is posted that can be considered as bullying or harassing will be taken down by the website. This is exactly what they did. This is why there is a report button, so that if any type of bullying or harassing takes place it can be reported so that it can be taken down. The account was taken down and Instagram did everything that it could have done to fix this issue, therefor they should not be penalized. - morgan house
DeleteI understand that you believe Instagram should be penalized because they did not take down the account quick enough, however, I believe they should not. Instagram did nothing wrong. With the hundreds of thousands of accounts that are on Instagram, it is impossible to completely monitor every single account that is made and what they put on these accounts. Instagram has in it's terms that any content that is posted that can be considered as bullying or harassing will be taken down by the website. This is exactly what they did. This is why there is a report button, so that if any type of bullying or harassing takes place it can be reported so that it can be taken down. The account was taken down and Instagram did everything that it could have done to fix this issue, therefor they should not be penalized. - morgan house
DeleteI agree with your view of the publisher of the account being wrong for publishing the account but I disagree with your view that Instagram should be held responsible for what happened. They may not have known about the account or if they did they may not of known it was getting people killed.
DeleteReece Johnson
Individuals do not have the right to create accounts on Instagram that jeopardize the safety of others. Instagram should not reap the legal problems associated with this particular case; however, they should work with the police deduce who committed this crime. There was once a similar problem at Greenwood High School in Flint, Michigan. Someone started a “Greenwood Rumors” account on twitter, and it was invading people’s privacy; therefore, Twitter worked with Greenwood’s principal to find the culprit and he was expelled. This is the same kind of cooperation that Instagram needs to lend to the Philadelphia Police Department in order to find the criminal who created this account. Most likely, the creator will be found and punished.
ReplyDeleteSidhanth Chandra
Instagram should not be held responsible for the choices of a user. Instagram was created for the general public so they are not held accountable for what their users do. They have created a "block" option so people have the choice to view it or not. It is a person's decision to post things on their account, they have the freedom of speech so it does not matter what they post because they have their freedom. The fact that the user was leaking confidential information is unlawful; thus, their account should be taken down because it was breaking the law.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Instagram should not be held responsible for the accounts actions and that the accound should be taken down. However, I believe that if Instagram was going to be professional about it, then they would take some blame for something that happened with their business, even though it is not their fault that they cannot monitor their thousands of accounts.
DeleteKayla Wilkins
Yes, people do have the right to post whatever they want, as it is no different from posting a political message on a sign or billboard; however when the information posted discloses witnesses and victims of crimes and puts peoples' lives in danger, this right should be taken away by the service used (Instagram.) If the content posted is illegal and dangerous, it should be removed, but otherwise the right to free speech should not be infringed upon. There is no difference in this case and cases of people posting death threats to George Zimmerman after the verdict of the Zimmerman trial was announced. Opinion is important, and one should have the right and ability to express themselves through social media but when this right results in illegal content being posted, these peoples' accounts should be removed from the corresponding social media source and the illegal content removed to protect those at risk, especially if all they've done is cooperate with police.
ReplyDelete-Caldwell Wagenheim
Individuals do not have the right to post these types of pictures or pages on any social media site. Yes, there is freedom of speech, but accounts such as "rats215" that express these types of feelings should not be permitted. Instagram should not be held responsible for the consequences stemming from these posts, because it is not Instagram who is posting the inappropriate posts, but the individual owner of the account. Also, Instagram is very proactive in encouraging users to report inappropriate posts. There have been many controversial music videos that have been broadcasted recently, but even though they are posted on YouTube, it is the artist who performs in and approves the video. Both the artists and Instagram users are doing it fully on their own; therefore they are held responsible for the consequences that may come about.
ReplyDeleteKate Singley
Sierra Chunko
ReplyDeleteIndividuals do not have the right to post this kind of page on any social media site. It could potentially put people in danger and allow criminals to go free because witnesses and victims will not come forward in fear that they will be exposed; but we do have the freedom of speech and press. However, just as we should not scream "fire" in a crowded theater, we should not expose the personal information of those helping to put criminals behind bars. As for the issue of Instagram being held responsible, they should not since they cannot control what people post on their website, but as soon as they are informed of the wrong doings "rats215" was posting, their page should have immediately been shutdown to halt anymore information being released. An example would be if anyone were to post pictures of rape, it would be taken down immediately. If Instagram failed to take actions against removing the page, then Instagram should be held responsible for contributing to the actions of "rats215". It is unethical to allow such information to be freely shared on any social media.
People have the right to post things about themselves or their business but they do not have the right to invade on anyone else private business. Instagram should be held accountable considering the consequences , they should remove the account immediately. The ironic thing is that instagram is against bullying and inappropriate content but can't remove a site that is exposing witnesses? That's a form of bullying and it may result to crime rates rising because people are to afraid to tell what they know.People should report the account and if its reported instagram should take it down, if the owners fail to take the account down or tell who the user is the owners should be punished . Everyone is so hooked up on 'who told' these days or (snitches get stitches) , such as when we were little. When your sister/family memeber broke or stole something or hurt you when you were younger what is the first thing you did? You told on them, the same thing applies in these type of situations.
ReplyDelete-Shaquala (no snazzy ending) Courtland
I see how you believe that Instagram should be held accountable considering the consequences, BUT Instagram has millions of accounts that they do not monitor regularly. By not having the ability of monitoring the millions of pictures that go through Instagram, Instagram should not be held responsible. If you do not know what is going on, then why should you be held responsible for the consequences that you did not cause? Why should you get the consequences and not the user that actually did the crime? This goes back to show that Instagram should not be held responsible for these posts made by rats215.—Kelsey Skurka
DeleteTo be politically correct, technically anyone has the right to post anything they want on Instgrams because we all have the right to free speech and free expression. However, what rats215 is doing is endangering the lives of those witnesses who were simply trying to do what is right for the community by helping law enforcement out. Although, Instagram cannot truly help what is happening because they can only do so much to regulate everything that is going on the app. They do need to pay attention when people report things like bullying and inappropriate pictures. Even I try to report things sometimes and I feel like no one is going to see it. This is similar to Edward Snowden releasing the NSA secrets to the public to show how the government is spying on the people of America and countries around the world through technology. Yes, it is scary to know you are being spied on but the government is doing so for our safety and if the government is keeping something locked up in "the vault" it should be kept where it was in the first place: a secret. When people put stuff like that out in the public, there is always an innocent person who is going to get hurt because of their actions.
ReplyDeleteBethany Lovell
Jana Traywick
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly unethical for the posting to have taken place, so the account being deactivated was therefore ethical. As individuals we have the right to opinions/beliefs and the freedom to express them, yet there is an extent to that right. Individuals do not have the right to post pages where information that is redacted from the public is being shared to the public by their page. Instagram, if they did not take action against this page once notified, should be responsible for the consequences from the postings on the account. Otherwise, they should not be held accountable, since they were not aware of what the account would post once it was created.
Individuals have the right to post things on public social networking sites, but this time user “rats215” went too far. If you know you are posting illegal things on the internet than you should not post it. Instagram should not be held responsible for these actions because they did not post the pictures that were on the account. Also, Instagram cannot monitor the millions of Instagram accounts that post pictures every day, but they do have the report button. This button allows you to report inappropriate pictures that are on Instagram. When the picture has been reported it will be taken down form the networking site. I know many people who have reported inappropriate pictures that have been on Instagram, and the picture/post was soon deleted afterwards. –Kelsey Skurka
ReplyDeleteThis is true in every way. Because since instagram gives you an option to report that particular post they should not be held responsible for other peoples actions. And I do also know people who have reported inappropriate pictures that have been on instagram, and the picture/post were deleteded.
DeleteEven though people do have freedom of speech, it is morally wrong for the "rats215" account to post pictures, etc. that are harmful to other people. Freedom of speech becomes void when it causes others harm. Instagram should not be held responsible for the actions of this account because they are not able to monitor the millions of accounts and the constant posts. This situation is similar to anything offensive on any social media site. For example, a tabloid that threatens a celebrities image with false accusations or Miley Cyrus' recent vulgar music videos and performances that may effect younger children. People have the right to pay attention to it and partake in it or they can report the incident and refuse to believe it. The many followers of the account are all guilty for not taking action. Now, because of people such as the creator of the rats125 account, crime rates will increase and the criminal justice system will have an even harder occupation because witnesses will now be afraid to come forward. In conclusion, the account owner committed very unethical actions and should be punished, and Instagram should not be punished because they took down the account and did all they could do.
ReplyDeleteSydney Moore
People have the right to post whatever they please on a social account at their own expense. if the information they post effect another person in a negative way, they have no right to post it. "rats215" had no right to post those files because it will not hurt them ,but other families and children. the things people say hurt but what makes it worse is if it is no a social network for millions of others to see it. in September of 2013, Rebecca Sedwick, a 12 year girl, committed suicide from being cyber bullied on facebook. an cases like hers are not uncommon in this day and age. it is a shame how a thing for good is twisted up by people. president Obama is working on the Cyberspace policy review. Howard Schmidit, Seven Vanroekel, and Todd Park are all working together to help implement this review. people from cyber security office, National security staff, and National economic council are all trying to help the U.S. win the war in cyberspace so sensitive information is not released to the wrong people. social networks should help the president in his quest to secure cyberspace. instagram should be held responsible for its silence to the issue. they could have deactivated the persons account or blocked the information once they found out it could endanger someone's life. if instagram could not get to it other people could have tried to get it off the site. social networks have to be very careful what is posted on their site because it could cost not just their company but other people a life. words are the most powerful weapon a man has. people need to use they wisely.
ReplyDeleteIyana Gray
ReplyDeleteNo, individuals do not have the right to post this particular kind of information on social networking sites; this form of expression harms others. Instagram should not necessarily be held accountable for the exposition of this material; the account holder should. In this instance, Instagram acts as a parent setting guidelines and issuing terms of agreement (slightly digressive of actual terms set by actual parents in regards to the option of "I agree" and "decline") in order for its offspring to acclimate to society or, even better, an aligned moral code. Once the user has become akin to the terms of use, it's the user's responsibility of what to do next. It's not within everybody's' realm of circumstance to pin everything that went wrong with their life on their parents, not everyone and not all the time; only victims stand to attain the comfort that comes with that sort of rectification. The account holder should be held responsible, Instagram did not post a hit list on their own social network, although after obtaining the public's attention in such a way Instagram should remove this particular content.
Shelley curry
ReplyDeletePeople have the right to post whatever they want. But with that being said, Instagram should have had a way to monitor what is being put on their website and taken care of it. I do not believe Instagram is held responsible for the account because they are not the ones promoting this account. The owner promotes these pictures and Instagram has nothing to do with it. This kind of thing happens everyday with cyber bullying. The website is not responsible for what the bully is saying but it is partly responsible for not monitoring what is being put on the consumers website. Again, Instagram is not responsible for this, but from now on they should monitor what is being put on their website because it could be harmful to others
"rats215" screwed up! Instagram has the absolute right to interfere/step up to get rid of rats account. Nobody has the right to post private business that might endanger the people that are involved in the business. Instagram should not be held responsible for anything a person says or posts on Instagram, but Instagram should strive harder to prevent such material from being posted on web. If anything this situation is exactly like the government problem Wiki leaks which gives away government secrets to the rest of the world.
ReplyDelete~Azeeza Abdulrauf~
I totally agree with your opinion, somewhat. Rats should not have posted the pictures of the witnesses and instagram should be held accountable. I agree 100% that instagram should strive to prevent the material. Although they have been notified and should take the account down! If not they should be held accountable. That's sort of like being a student and missing a test because of a school activity , the student should not be held accountable because of the activity, but has the choice to take the test. If being notified to take it so many times they deserve the grade they get. Instagram might want to take the test real quick if you know what i mean.
Delete-Shaquala hashatagwords hashtaghashtag hashtaghashtagswag Courtland
Individuals do have the right to post whatever they choose onto public networking sites. However, if what is being posted on the site is threatening to another individual, there should be serious consequences for that user. In this incident, "rats215" went too far. Putting others' lives in danger is not acceptable when it comes to having the freedom to post whatever you want. Instagram should not be held responsible for the consequences of rats215's posts. Although, Instagram is responsible for the account existing. They should be held responsible for the Instagrammer's account not being deleted or at least monitored. All social networking sights should keep a closer eye on what is being submitted on their sites. Another example of issues caused by social media is cyber bullying. Sometimes, a small report or complaint from a user is not enough to delete what was posted. Using social networking on a daily basis means I could at any time become a target of cyber bullying or any other issues such as the ones rats215 caused.
ReplyDeleteJanna Meeks
i agree with janna, everyone is free to post whatever they want there is a point where things can go too far though. this count crossed some lines and although it is this accounts fault instagram also has "rules" i guess you could call them that should be followed and the user rats215 went against some of them and instagram should have deleted it before it got too out of hand.
Deletesamantha huver
This issue is morally wrong. Yes, you have the freedom to say whatever you want but you shouldn't use your "freedom" as harm. Instagram isn't the problem, the problem is about education. Peoples moral values are going down the toilet. For example Ask.fm is just a tool which helps people to communicate with each other, same as any other social network, same as phone, same as piece of paper and pen but its used in a harmful way. 9 teenage suicides have happened in the past year just from the idiotic people that post harmful anonymous comments on these innocent peoples profiles. Don’t blame a cite. The actual cite can't control what people post but can either block or report those individuals comments. All in all, the owner of the faulty account made very unethical actions and should be disciplined accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that people have the right to post things like this on any type of social media. For example, instagram should not be held accountable for this person's decision to make this account. Also it makes absolutely no sense what so ever if instagram were to completely shutdown because of this one account that someone made to this do this horrible thing. For people who see this account should flag it or report as inappropriate
ReplyDeleteReece Johnson-
ReplyDeleteCreating the account was ethically wrong because it violated the rights of the witnesses of these crimes to not have to worry about being discriminated against or harmed for testifying in a court case. People do have the right to post whatever they want but this is wrong because it harms other people. Instagram should not be held responsible for the post because they could not have known what the owners of the account would use it for. This article shows why it is a good idea for people to be able to report inappropriate posts so they can be taken down.
Obviously it is unethical for the information to be posted onto Instagram, and in this situation I think it was also illegal because it was used to intimidate victims and witnesses. However, if the information was posted without the intent to intimidate others, although it would still be unethical, I think the individual who posted the content would have the right to. Instagram should not be responsible for what their users choose to post. They are simply a medium and what people choose to use the medium for is up to them.
ReplyDeleteJakeias McGee
I agree with this statement. Another example of an occurrence similar to this incident is when the alleged terrorists formed a team and threatened to bomb the U.S. on Facebook. Of course, Facebook was not to blame for the incident, and no one thought to blame the site. Everyone blamed the terrorists for their want to harm Americans, and the terrorists took full responsibility for their actions. Facebook was their uninvolved medium, and no one thought to think of the site in any way other than that.
DeleteAlthough I do understand where your opinions may come from, I would like to challenge this comment by saying that it is entirely unethical to post the information of the criminals, no matter the intent of "rats215." Whether they meant harm or not, they have no right to publicize anyone's personal info. They have already been trialed and dealt with by the US court and law. There is no need for anyone else to interfere. Plus, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to post that type of information about trials and whatnot.
DeleteNow, do you still believe they would have the right to post what they posted? (I don't mean it in a harsh way; I just didn't know how to end my paragraph so I added that sentence. No harm intended throughout this entire comment.)
xoxo Grace
Jala Thomas
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I understand that the "rats215" account creates a helpful way for police to find witnesses and victims of crimes, but it's also putting them at risk. It's not really Instagram's fault, because people expose so much personal information on social networks these days, it's getting dangerous. I always understood that as individuals, we have every right to post whatever we want on the internet, but there is "report' and 'spam" buttons on social networks for a specific reason. If you're putting my personal info out on Instagram about me being a witness or victim of a crime, that's putting my life at risk in public, because Instagram is visible and can be accessed by anybody in the world. Instagram has every right to delete the account, because it's harming them, but also harming the people being exposed. I also feel like people take it too far with social networks. The whole world shouldn't be able to see your whole life through social networks. You never know who may be after you, or who's watching you on the internet, so you just have to be very careful when it comes to posting certain pictures, or posts when it comes to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Cyber Bullying and things posted on the internet can possibly lead to horrible situations, whether its kidnapping, people lying about who they are, or etc.
The Instagram account is demoralizing the ethics of the Criminal Justice Center by leaking information from cases that were promised to be confidential. The account, rats215, is allowing thousands of viewers see information about private cases that were supposed to remain private. I do think the posts are wrong, however, I do not believe that Instagram should be held responsible for the account's posting. Instagram is an app that allows you to freely post what pictures you want, when you want them to be posted. They do not get notified every time someone posts a picture that should not be viewed, unless someone with an account pushes the button that Instagram has made available to people to report any picture that you may think is inappropriate. After you do this, Instagram will be notified and if they believe that the picture you reported is displaying negative or inappropriate information, they will delete the picture, and sometimes if it gets too out of hand they will delete the account itself.
ReplyDelete~ Emmy Melchior
~Mark Chapman
ReplyDeleteIn this particular case, I would say that individuals do not have the right to post this sort of information to any kind of site. This information could endanger the mentioned witnesses, therefore it should be hidden from the general public. The only thing that instagram should be responsible for is taking down the account. As far as being held accountable, all blame should go directly towards the individual who posted the information. By creating the account, the user takes full responsibility for anything posted on that account and the consequences that come with what is posted on that account.
Individuals do not have the right to post this sort of information because it can negatively affect the lives of many people. Like you wrote, this could “endanger” the witnesses and they have the right to remain anonymous if they so choose. Along the lines of Americans right of freedom, this type of post should not be counted under it due to the fact that the poster is indirectly harming others. If someone posted that they were going to commit a murder the next day at a certain place, then they could be arrested because it is putting not only yourself, but others at rick as well. I am not denying that this guy should be held accountable, but instagram should be held a little more accountable because their guidelines say that harassing will not be tolerated. After over 150+ posts and 7,500 followers, there is no way that instragram had not seen the account and it took the police to get involved and take it down. If a person posts information such as this on the internet, then he/she should be held accountable as well and should suffer the consequences. The internet not only allows information to spread, but it does so at a quicker rate. By posting things such as this on the internet, it allows more people to see these witnesses and it increases their chances of getting hurt.
Delete~~Colton Herren~~
Mark, while I hold your argument in consideration, Instagram users should not be held accountable for their exhibitions, regardless Iof malignent intent as users fall victim to Instagram's negligent ways. Instagram should monitor its users since they receive income for their services and (according to their terms of agreement) take photos
Deletefrom accounts and make profit from them.
I disagree with the idea that instagram should be held responsible. I know that rats215 was a member of Instagram, but the user is,by law, entitled to individual rights that Instagram must comply with until further investigation of the account.
Delete-Arielle Gray
Silvia Brosolo
ReplyDeleteThe ethic problems derived from this kind of web page are the violation of privacy and endangering of other people (in this case, crime witnesses). It's true that everybody has the rights to say what they think and express their opinions freely (like saying whether they think a person is a witness or not), but in this case the owner of the account published records and other documents which is probably illegal.
There should be more controls from witnesses protecion programs, especially on social networks, so that there would be no doubts on whether accounts like this oneshould be shut down.
With the millions of accounts, Instagram can't be aware of what is posted on each single one; anyway, they should have better control on people's privacy and danherous situations, so part of the responsibility is also theirs.
I agree with this viewpoint because I believe social networking sites should have certain responsibilities to monitor their site. They should control it more strictly because these violations of privacy can be very dangerous for others. Accounts should be deleted along with posts that could be potential danger for others. There should be some way for the website operators to dispose of these harmful documents or information. With the incident happening on Instagram, the website should have responsibilities and consequences to and extent. -Janna Meeks
DeleteI luv Silvia
The Bill of Rights gives each citizen the right of free speech, but that does not give them the right to post things that are closed court documents or that will hurt someone else. To me, Free Speech isn't a question when someone else is going to get hurt. Witness information is protected for a reason. This information could put people in jeopardy. Witness protection programs were created for this specific reason. People would stop testifying if they are vulnerable to danger. I don't believe that Instagram should be held responsible. People who have accounts have to take responsibility for what they post on their account. A real life example is every day the news/newspaper has stories about crimes but the victims names are not published to help keep them from being under more stress. Envision if they did publish who all these people were. There would be emotional and possible physical repercussions.
ReplyDeleteCaylin Kliner
ReplyDeletepeople have every right to post whatever they want on social networks. That's the entire point of a social network...to show/tell people what you think & to express yourself. however, it's their responsibility if someone gets offended from it and it starts an argument. but then again, if you don't like something that someone else posts on social networks...unfollow them, or report it. that's what those buttons are for. they're not gonna get penalized for it unless you take action. For example, the rapper Wiz Khalifa is constantly posting like 5 pictures a day of drugs. He has a little under a million followers. Not every single person is going to be offended by that. The people that do, can unfollow him. It's that easy. So, furthermore people can't complain one bit about what someone else posts because they have every right to block the person, unfollow, report, etc. Instagram should not be held responsible for that because everyone is gonna see atleast one thing on social networks that they don't like. Again, that's what the report button is for. It's not like Instagram isn't trying to stop it? They're trying to help innapropriate things like that. If there wasn't such things as a report button, block button, unfollow button, etc. Instagram probably should be held accountable because it's their website and they haven't done anything to help their users. But, since Instagram has tried and filled in the problems users have, they shouldn't be responsible for any one's actions
Caylin Kliner
I understand your point of view and I completely agree. People have the right to upload whatever they would like and its their decision on whether they want to see a persons pictures on Instagram or not. Instagram shouldn't be held responsible for the pages actions because they did all they could in order to try to avoid pages like that such as buttons that include he block button, the report button, and the unfollow button. My opinion is strongly agreed with yours.
Delete-Danielle Deese
I disagree. I feel people should not be able to post anything that they want, let alone court documents that were chose to not be talked about, reported and spread across social media on instagram. Many people can post harmful things on social media and that is why there is a report button I agree with you there, but we also have a report button because people are posting things that should not be posted. There have been serious issues over social media and blocking or just trying to ignore such things are not always the solution.
Delete-Kaitlyn Elwood
Although people have freedom through the Bill of Rights there is a certain extent at which freedom is taken too far. If something has been closed within court documents then there is obviously a reason it has not been opened to the public, and in no way is posting something like that on social media acceptable. Yes, there is a report button, block button, unfollow button, ect. but there is a difference between an inappropriate picture or an offensive picture and a picture revealing private, closed court documents. I do agree that Instagram should not be the one punished, but I disagree that people have every right to post whatever they want on social network. There are just some things that common sense should tell you not to do.
Delete-Anna Marie Callahan
Arielle Gray--
ReplyDeleteDo individuals have the right to post this kind of page on a public social networking site?
1) No, individuals do not have the right to post this kind of page on social networking sites.
Should Instagram be held responsible for the consequences that are wrought from the account's posting?
2)Instagram, in the grand scheme of things, should not be held responsible for the consequences that are wrought from the account's posting(s) because Instagram has an abuse policy. However, the employees that are responsible for Instagram's abuse/bullying policy should be more aware of accounts such as this. The fact that the individual posted offensive/dangerous materials may still be guaranteed as "justified" under the first amendment. Instagram would have violated that right if they had stopped the account based on the posts' content. However, if challenged by other user's ability to report the content as abusive, then it would be totally appropriate for action to be taken against the user. Again, Instagram should not held responsible for the activities of a individual that chooses to use their social networking app.
However, it can also be said that Instagram should be held responsible because it is a site that should be monitored by Instagram and the abuse reported should be brought to their attention immediately. However, this is not the only case that is brought to Instragram's attention on a daily basis because it is a known fact that Instagram is open to the global public and there are millions of users on this site.
Currently, I am aware of websites that are also used to bully, threaten, and manipulate people. There are websites out there where users can use old photographs of ex-girlfriends,ex-boyfriends or "enemies" ,perhaps, and photoshop them onto inappropriate photos in which illicit acts are conducted. From there, the user can advertise this person and expose them to total strangers, humiliation, and other various threats. Yet, the websites that condone this are usually not held responsible under the first amendment and their right to create a website, blog, or social networking site.
-Arielle Gray-
-Abriana Fornis-
DeleteI agree completely with Arielle's opinion that Instagram should not be held responsible for the content of such a page. Instagram would have, in fact, violated the user's First Amendment right by interfering with that user's page based on its content. Furthermore, although abuse was reported to Instagram it is almost inevitable that Instagram would receive an innumerable amount of reports on a daily basis, making it difficult for them to detect and respond appropriately to such reports.
Sharly Lovitt
ReplyDeleteIt is less a matter of rights and more a matter of moral value and law when discussing something like this. People do, technically, have the right to attempt to publish something like this, but when consulting laws and things like the terms and conditions of a site, it certainly is against the rules. If one is to publish something like evidence that he or she has warrants for his or her arrest on a social networking site, by all means on can do so, but they also face the possibility of legal repurcussions since this evidence is now available for all to see in a public manner which can result in those warrants being carried through. In summary, one has THE RIGHT to post something like this, but it is not right, nor is it lawful to do so, and the poster should be punished.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH! This is what most everything I say consists of. The person had the right to post it. Whether it was morally or immorally right. Frankly, I have no trust in humanity. Some people can just be plain senseless. I don't know if I believe if this person should be punished though due to the fact that they were expressing their freedom.
DeleteLoves Sharly!
Abbi Spencer
Meghan Adamczyk
ReplyDeleteI do believe people have the right to express their feelings, just to a certain extent. They should be able to express themselves but know the consequences that will be brought ahead in the future. No, it is not appropriate to do so on social netwoks, but it is based on ones morals and values of their final decision would be. No, Instagram should not be held responsible for this, due to the fact that there is a way to report certain pictures that should not be viewable. The person whose account it is should be held responsible for their actions.
I defend your argument completely. I also believe that people should be able to express their feelings and that Instagram should not be held responsible for the account's decisions. There isn't a way that Instagram can view and check every single picture posted everyday to see if it is or is not appropriate. Instagram is filled with more positive pictures than harmful ones which would make this process of eliminating the inappropriate very time consuming. However, they did invent a solution to this problem by making a "report inappropriate" button. In conclusion, you are exactly right, the only person who should be held responsible is the owner of the account, rats215, itself.
Delete~ Emmy Melchior
This type of action is not ethical at all. Although I do understand why this person (rats215) would post those pictures, it does not make it morally sound at all. Sure, they're criminals and aren't so ethical themselves, but they're still human beings who deserve at least the respect of privacy. They have already been dealt with by the police, court, etc. and don't need any more people that "needa put a hit out on them." Therefore, individuals absolutely do not have the right to post that kind of information, especially on a social networking site.
ReplyDeleteI use Instagram daily. Several times a day, in fact. There are millions of users who post one or more pictures daily. It is impossible for Instagram to be able to filter all of those users and block all of the inappropriate ones. That's why there's a "Report Inappropriate" button on the bottom right corner of the post, so that we can help keep the Instagram community safe! Instagram should not be held responsible for that person's actions, and those who thought the posts were "okay" and that that person was doing "the right thing," should be shunned. Shame on them, not Instagram.
I agree that Instagram should not be held responsible for the actions of rats215; however, I think you may have misunderstood his intentions. It was not meant to harm the criminals; it was meant to harm victims and witness or "rats" hence the name.
DeleteJakeias McGee
Politically, everyone has a right to say what they think or feel; however, ethically, no one should have the right to say things that would harm others. While rats215 felt his actions were necessary and just, many would agree with me that morally it was wrong and he should be held accountable for his actions. The social networking site, itself, should not be to blame in that matter, because it was the medium, not involved, throughout the whole ordeal. Individuals should take responsibility for individuals' actions, and networking sites should not take any blame for an individual's purpose. Corrections can be made to a site to prevent it from happening again, but to downright call the networking site out is ignorant.
ReplyDelete