Potential Solution - Amanda's Law

 

This is an open and public letter written by: Janice Plante TO: Anyone that cares to read it. If you either share or republish the letter, please do so in its entirety or excerpts with proper quotation, and credit to Janice Plante with the use of the idea/concept or portions of the actual text.

OK so I got an idea.... on the subject of Bullying and Amanda Todd.

Everyone of all ages need protection from people who would republish any type of nudity/personal photos created for their eyes only. Anyone of any age might at some point do this and it should be illegal to then distribute that photo without that person’s (the subject of the photo) written or any other type of CONSENT.

It needs to be adopted into the Criminal Code and not just a tort/civil action that would require litigation. It could be classified in the Criminal Code under sexual assault/exploitation. Without going into too much legal detail here, the limitations of the existing statute allows for the type of abuse that haunted Amanda and others.

Write the statute so that consent to publish is NEVER implied and that explicit consent needs to be made in writing in order for anyone to publish any photo involving nudity in which they are not the subject.  This could go further to say that no one would be allowed to possess pictures of nudity in which they cannot prove consent. eg; if someone downloaded pornographic material from a web site, for money or free, then they are not criminally responsible, but the web site needs to prove consent. However, the person who downloaded that material, MAY be held criminally responsible if they REPUBLISH without the consent of the person that is the subject in the photo, or the source of the material.

This type of law would not limit the age of anyone involved or their position of authority; Just a blanket, simple law that everyone can understand.

NO ONE CAN PUBLISH ANY PHOTO THAT INVOLVES ANY NUDITY, IN WHICH THE PUBLISHER IS NOT THE SUBJECT, AND THAT NO OTHER PERSON BESIDES THE PUBLISHER IS IN THE PHOTO, WITHOUT THE EXPLICIT WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE SUBJECT(S) IN THE PHOTO/VIDEO/PRINT MEDIA/INTERNET STREAM/ETC.

Dany Morin of the Federal NDP Party is trying to present a motion on a strategy to prevent bullying. Well, that's all fine and good, but it still doesn't address the problem in an effective manner. We don't need more studies, or more delay until the public forgets about this latest instance. What we need is to provide funding on the ground to the front lines in providing grassroots support for anyone of any age that is being exploited or blackmailed, embarrassed and humiliated by the actions of a scorned boyfriend/girlfriend or anyone else’s use of media in which they are not the subject, that is negatively affecting someone else.

There should already be some legalities in place, but they are not in the public’s knowledge and they definitely are not being enforced. Law enforcement needs to be educated and empowered to assist people who are facing exploitation and defamatory libel.

Maybe because these things are occurring on the WWW/internet, there is confusion about jurisdiction.  At first, there were some reports that the harassers of Amanda were in the USA. An International or at least a North American covenant could be conjured up and accepted, or jurisdiction by jurisdiction enact laws and statutes that deal with this issue and allow for cross-border prosecution. Let’s leave the door open for every local politician to claim some kudos by putting forward some motions to amend the law.

And so, that is my idea of a PARTIAL solution.  It does not completely address teenage bullying, but it does put a lid on what has become an issue for a significant amount of young people. As well, it is easy to provide evidence through cell phone and computer technology. To me, it would seem like an easy fix to just expand some of the discourse in the Criminal Code to include this new type of exploitation through social media. Social media and the damage it can cause is a modern issue that now needs to be addressed. It will only become more and more prevalent as those who grew up with it use it to its maximum abilities to their own benefit or to the detriment of others. Let’s nip it in the bud and not allow this type of media to be used by spiteful or otherwise ill-intentioned people. This technology has the potential to be a substantial influence and allow for awareness when used properly. Let’s hold those accountable that chose to abuse the freedom of expression and limit it to their own expression and not what others may have disclosed in a moment of vulnerability!

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