'Accusations never goes away': Web sleuths pointing fingers in Idaho murders can face criminal charges
MOSCOW, IDAHO: Almost five weeks after the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, police are still searching for the suspect with no possible leads or murder weapon coming to light. Ever since the killings, web sleuths have been churning out bizarre and unsubstantiated accusations one after another. But these unfounded accusations can now reportedly land them in legal trouble.
A report by Fox News stated that internet users who are disseminating rumors and naming innocent people as suspects in the case can suffer legal repercussions. Attorney Matthew Bergman, who represents people harmed by social media platforms, recently told Fox News that the individuals who are being targeted online "can draft a very hard-hitting cease and desist letter" to those spreading rumors and "threaten legal action and demand that this statement be retracted and withdrawn again."
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He also noted that social media giants including Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit are already shielded from any such legal action by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that platforms can't be held liable for what third-party users post on their websites. "It would be a challenge to do [sue a platform], legally, unless you could show that something in the design of that particular social media platform significantly contributed or facilitated those defamatory comments," Bergman added. "But the nature and scope of Section 230 are being reevaluated. The Supreme Court is going to hear a case in February on this subject matter."
The four victims -- Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21 -- still have open social media profiles, enabling online sleuths to examine each of their posts for potential clues that might identify the killer. Numerous individuals, who were acquaintances, ex-partners, or roommates of the quadruple murder victims have already been branded as suspects by web sleuths. "Bullying can be so much more damaging on social media because it spreads to everyone you know," Bergman explained. "And if somebody said something to a person that is hurtful or wrongfully accuses them of something, it never goes away. And it can be multiplied, and it can go viral."
To dispel internet rumors about the crime, the victims, or the culprits, Moscow police have even developed a section of their often-updated news release titled "Rumor management." Recently the officials also noted that social media users who are spreading false rumors on the internet can face criminal charges. "Anyone engaging in threats or harassment whether in person, online or otherwise needs to understand that they could be subjecting themselves to criminal charges," officials stated in a press release on December 9.
Bergman's straightforward counsel to the sleuths who are disseminating false information online was to "stop it." "You're not police. You are impeding the investigation and compounding the harm that resulted from this horrific act. And you're being a bad citizen by doing it. So stop it," he said.