DIGITAL LAW

SEXTING – A Modern Phenomena Sample scenario: A 17 yr old boy and a 15 yr old girl meet at a party. The girl sends a playful, but sexually explicit photo of herself via text to the boy. Once the photo arrives on the boy’s phone What happens? He is, under NSW law, in possession of child pornography since the girl is a minor. If he sends the photo to his friends via text, they are also in possession of child pornography and he becomes a distributor of child pornography. The girl who sent the photo can be charged with producing and distrubuting child pornography. A conviction would likely place these persons on the sex offenders' register. It is likely young people have no idea of the serious ramifications of this activity. Young people have been CHARGED in AU with these offences. The message is: BE AWARE and KNOW THE LAW Megan’s story 60 minutes60 minutes

NSW LAW Section 60E is a specific law which protects all students and staff while at school. Section 60E(1) contains several offences. Any person who : assaults or stalks or harasses or intimidates a school student or a member of staff of a school while the victim is attending a school is liable to 5 years Section 60E(2) contains the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to a school student or staff member of a school, while the victim is attending a school. This offence has a maximum penalty of 7 years.

Section 60E(3) contains offences of : maliciously wounding or maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm to a member of staff of a school or a school student while that victim is attending a school. This offence is strictly indictable and has a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment. Section 60E(4) creates the offence of entering school premises with intent to commit any of the above offences. This is also a Table 2 offence that has a maximum penalty of 5 years, but may be dealt with by a Local Court where the maximum is 2 years or $5500, or both. Section 91H of the NSW Crimes Act makes it an offence to produce, distribute or possess material which includes depictions of children being tortured, under cruelty or physical abuse which covers videos of a person being bashed etc.

Laws are enforceable by society and any breach of a criminal law may attract punishments, such as, fines, imprisonment, good behaviour bonds etc. The police and the court system are involved in this area of the law. Physical assault is where one person applies force to the body of someone else without their consent but assault also exists where one person undertakes an action which causes another to be apprehensive of unlawful violence. Texting, s, phone messages all fall into the category of “assault” AND they are easily traceable – remember your digital footprint. The following are real Australian examples.

A 19 year old South Australian man was convicted of criminal defamation when he made hateful negative comments about a police officer on a social networking site. The court considered his comments as inciting acts of violence against a person in authority. A 22 year old Queensland woman, received a suspended jail sentence for using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence after she posted offensive material on a Facebook tribute page for a woman who had been murdered.

A man who placed a webcam on the dashboard of his car to capture his ‘burnouts’ on a suburban road was charged with reckless driving after he posted the film on Facebook. A Victorian woman encouraged her teenage daughter and her friends to physically assault another teenage girl while she filmed the attack. The footage was posted on MySpace. She was charged with affray and causing serious injury by aiding and abetting teen attackers.

REMEMBER While you certainly have digital rights it is important to remember that these rights have corresponding responsibilities and if your digital behaviour is not acceptable or appropriate then you are liable for the consequences – whether they be from a rule, an agreement or a law!

Acknowledgement Catholic Education Office Lismore