photo: Channel 7 news Boston
If anyone wanted to make a case on the pitfalls of online communications and the unfettered freedom the internet allows, one needs look no further than the recent Boston bombing.
Online 'sleuths' have come out of woodwork and are stumbling on each other to try to identify the people who have committed the cowardly crime.
But their actions, whether they are sincere, or in some cases not so earnest such as conspiracy sites that have a long history of muddling the water with outlandish theories, are complicating the already difficult work of the federal and local police.
What is at stake here is the ability for millions of people to see pictures that are part of the evidence being evaluated by the police, and for these people to be influenced by the innumerable false reports that some person or another, through their own 'investigative' work, has identified the culprits.
Some conspiracy sites are already targeting some of the Boston marathon spectators and calling them government plants, the true perpetrators of the massacre.
This kind of misinformation can be very damaging for the proper evolution of whatever legal procedure will be needed to both indict and sentence the true criminals.
And that's not even counting the problems with violating the privacy of the individuals that are portrayed in the pictures and footage of the bombing.
Many people immediately focused on spectators who were dark skinned. Ugly stereotypes and other racist memes immediately surfaced. Other 'e-sleuths' focused on what they were carrying, but still picked people who looked arabic or 'muslim'. Some others instead, following the line of conspiracy theorist that have already billed this as a case of domestic terror, are focusing on people who remind them of the perpetrators of the Murrah building bombings.
What is worse, some of the internet sleuths are turning 'vigilantes' doing their own judging and in some cases searching for the actual spectator.
This sets a dangerous precedent in a case that needs maximum latitude when it comes to secrecy and caution.
Some internet sites are responding by posting warnings about vigilantism, and are especially cautious about people posting pictures of spectators and information on them on social sites.
There is even a 'find Boston Bomber' site on Reddit, that already has more than 1,700 users who are scouring what they consider evidence and are posting photographs of spectators with backpacks or other in their mind suspicions impliments.
What is truly happening is best described by A. Leonard, staff writer at Salon.com " ....it's pretty much impossible for every suspect identified by the mob to be guilty. Which means sadly that a bunch of amateurs are playing with photographs on their computer and are tarring innocent people with potential responsibility for a horrible crime. Our worst selves are revealed at these moments."
Not to mention that there is nothing to stop them.
Source: Telegraph Uk/ 4.18.13
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