A Scenario SOCIAL MEDIA IN CIVIL & FAMILY LITIGATION

Privacy: images and business records Property: websites and social media accounts Equality: vulnerability of certain groups on social media Evidentiary: surreptitiously obtained information and privilege Fact-finding: best interests of the child in a custody determination Admissibility: screen shots of Facebook profiles/walls Civil action: intrusion on seclusion

what was she thinking?

‘ Sexting’ is a trigger issue in this problem. How would you explain Kelly’s conduct? Pick the two most likely answers A.She wasn’t thinking at all! A mistake B.She felt pressured C.She trusted Dale D.She was freely expressing her sexuality through technology E.Don’t know

what was she thinking? lessons from The eGirls Project PROFESSOR JANE BAILEY MAY 2014

adults

“information super highway”

children online

competitors

policy priority

Canadians

45 hours/month

MediaSmarts

99%

1/3

24% of grade 4’s 52% of grade 7’s 85% of grade 11’s

39%

13-24

3339 texts/month

6 texts/waking hour

4050 texts/month

2539 texts/month

quadruple

seamless integration

sex & sexuality

offline

online

“everyone knows that you get intimate with your boyfriend anyway like when you get to a certain age like if she thinks that like she can trust that guy and she’s going to send him that picture” URBAN MINOR FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 5

2.5% -- 20%

equally likely

positive

“a strong couple, then that’s fine” URBAN ADULT FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 3

“I do send pictures to my boyfriend. But I always make sure my face is not in there.... Because even though I don’t think he’d spread them around, if he lost his phone and it wasn’t password protected there, that would not be good.” URBAN ADULT FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 4

pressure

expectations

“a girl is probably just doing it to get the guy’s attention. … Cause most 19 year old guys only have one thing on their mind … and … some girls will do anything to keep their boyfriend” RURAL MINOR INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

media

weight loss bodily standards of perfection

“the women are just objects, they’re just complementary, he’s the center focal point and the women are just ornaments around him” URBAN ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 1

“that being a woman is about how well you can please guys. Like … how to please your man, 101 ways to I don’t even wanna mention it” URBAN ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 1

“likes”

“I used to think, oh cool, I got 10 likes and then you look at the girls who look revealing and they have 50 [from guys] and you’re like, oh, I wonder why” RURAL MINOR INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

“Wow, you’re hot” RURAL ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 1

“Oh my god, you look gorgeous! You look so skinny!” RURAL ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 1

razor thin line

attacks

“like, some people refuse to post, like, topless pictures, and they’ll get hate for that. Or if you do post topless pictures, you’ll get hate for that. Or if- pretty much anything you do is something wrong in someone’s eyes.” RURAL MINOR FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 4

“you know you’re a real man when you tell me that if I don’t send you a picture of myself like naked that you’re going to post a picture of someone’s breasts and put them on Facebook and tag me and say that they’re mine” RURAL ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

“cause what would he do with that actual picture of you if you sent it and if you don’t he’s going to try and target you anyways to the public eye and make you look trashy” RURAL ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

“why should her whole entire life and her whole entire reputation be ruined, and why should she be the one that gets punished when the guy is the one who sent it around to all of his friends … Nothing [happens to him], they’re the ones that are like ‘oh you’re the man’, and like the girl’s the one who gets like devalued from it.” URBAN MINOR FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 5

“let’s take for example Amanda Todd … let’s look at the core issue here misogyny, sexism, exploitation and abuse of young girls, no no no! People are too busy victim blaming Amanda Todd …’well, she shouldn’t have sent those pictures, what was she thinking, like, this girl’s a slut!’ and it reinforces that, and so, those ideologies contribute to rape victims being –’well, what were you doing walking alone at 12 o’clock anyways?’” URBAN ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 1

what was she thinking?

a perfect storm

life on a powder keg

seamlessly integrated

“big fuse” URBAN MINOR INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

permanent record

reputational ruin

“it’s not fair how easily like your whole entire image can get changed on one image like one picture” URBAN MINOR FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT 6

“give girls a break” RURAL MINOR INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3

“If you’re going to change the way that we’re going to be socializing and like living day to day … we have to cope with that in some way … it’s all changing it’s all new so we have to learn as we go” RURAL ADULT INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT 3