Don't use Internet for Hate

It's a pretty simple concept for the majority of technology users: don't use the Internet to hurt other people. Everybody gets angry, everybody needs to vent, and the Web gives us the ability to express our opinions in a relatively safe environment.

And everybody knows that there are certain things that we do not, under any circumstances, ever do - the most important being post personal information.

But it seems a New York social worker forgot the rules on Internet etiquette last week.

On July 3, CNN.com reported about Long Island mother Margery Tannenbaum, who allegedly posted a sexual personal ad on Craigslist.com about a 9-year-old girl.

The ad did not inform the reader that the girl was underage, but it did give her home number and e-mail address for interested men to contact the child. CNN reported that the advertisement read: "I need a little affection... I'm blond, I'm cute and I'll be waiting."

Margery Tannenbaum is a sick, demented social pariah who deserves whatever public backlash she will receive. We've already seen this behavior once before - with Lori Drew and the "MySpace Hoax" debacle that resulted in the suicide of a 13-year-old girl.

Like Drew, the situation with Tannenbaum is the same old song - her daughter and the 9-year-old victim got into a fight. To get revenge, Tannenbaum posted an ad under the personal's section of Craigslist. The victim's mother told CNN that "she received 22 calls in one day, in all around 40 calls from various men who saw the ad, including some seeking an escort service."

Drew had her misdemeanor conviction thrown out by an appellate court judge, but hopefully Tannenbaum won't get off so easily. It's time we start sending a message to "adults" who think that endangering minors is a respectable way to reap revenge.

Apparently, Tannenbaum has never heard of WhitePages.com and the "reverse lookup." Just because she only put a phone number doesn't mean that one of these men couldn't have looked up the victim's home address and showed up looking for sex.

When Tannenbaum's lawyer was questioned, he said, "I think this has been blown out of proportion to what the actual alleged act was."

Tannenbaum posted a sex ad with information leading interested suitors to a 9-year-old girl. What exactly has been blown out of proportion? How does the mind of any adult not process that posting a sex ad with personal information about someone else is not a reckless, irresponsible, immature and dangerous act?

It doesn't even matter that the girl was a minor. Posting that kind of information about anyone can lead to devastating consequences. It is an absolute breech of personal privacy and perpetrators should have any access to the Internet immediately suspended.

But then again, Tannenbaum probably doesn't think she did anything wrong, which is probably the biggest crime of all. Too bad a lack of common sense and social decency isn't punishable by law.

See the original article at: www.mtsusidelines.com (click the link, it'll take you right to the column)