Jessi Slaughter cyberbullying case

The Jessi Slaughter cyberbullying case revolved around an 11-year-old American girl nicknamed "Jessi Slaughter" and "Kerligirl13", whose profanity-laden video postings became a viral hit via Stickam and YouTube. The videos resulted in a campaign of telephone and Internet harassment against the girl, chiefly attributed to 4chan users and members of the internet-based group Anonymous, which was widely covered by the media as a case of cyberbullying.

Videos

Slaughter created a variety of videos uploaded to YouTube using her webcam. She bragged in them about her popularity, her attractiveness, and her intelligence. They featured a use of profanity and threats of violence. She told video viewers, "'I'm happy with my life okay? And if you can't, like, realize that and stop hating you know what? I'll pop a Glock in your mouth and make a brain slushy." She also angrily responded to comments that her (alleged) sexual relationships constituted statutory rape due to her young age. It's not clear, according to her mother, whether or not she actually had any of these relationships.

Her mother later said in an interview with the feminist blog MomLogic.com,

Jessica has a webcam and a computer. All of her friends have webcams, too, so they video chat with each other. I knew she'd made a video to apply for "America's Got Talent." She sings and sent an audition video in. I had no idea she was making other videos. I have seen her chatting with her friends, but not making videos.

Aside from making videos, Slaughter allegedly created nude photographs of herself that she released. Her mother claims that the nude images were digitally manipulated fakes (comprised of her daughter's head attached to another person's body) that were distributed as a form of harassment. The Marion County, Florida sheriff's department says it is investigating allegations that there are pornographic photos of the girl online.

Timeline

Slaughter's first popular video was originally posted in response to two rumors: first, that she had been raped by a real-life friend, and second, that she was having underage sex with the lead singer of the emo pop band Blood On The Dance Floor. She described the video's profane content as "just a way to get out my anger." This video was eventually linked to by users of the 4chan message boards, where users then found and distributed her real name, phone number and address.

The harassment intensified after Slaughter uploaded a video titled "You Dun Goofed Up" that included her father insulting and threatening the bullies, telling them that they had "done goofed," that he had "back-traced" their identities, and threatening that "consequences will never be the same":

You know what? I'm gonna tell you right now, this is from her father, you bunch of lying, no-good punks! And I know who it's coming from, because I back-traced it, and I know who's emailing and who's doing it, and you've been reported to cyber police and the state police. You better not write one more thing or screw with my computer again, you'll be arrested, end of conversation, from her father! And if you come near my daughter, guess what? Consequences will never be the same, you lying bunch of pricks!

"You Dun Goofed Up" received over 1 million views on YouTube in one week. Her father's reaction made the taunting worse, and the video of his reactions received more views than any of his daughter's previous recordings. He later admitted that he was simply trying to support his daughter as her father and "get people to stop hating."

The girl was placed under police protection, and the family's home was placed under police surveillance. She underwent counseling for the harassment but says it has not discouraged her from continuing to post videos to the Internet. In a subsequent Good Morning America interview, the family revealed that they have received harassment ranging from death threats to unfounded accusations of sexual abuse against the girl.

In retaliation for Gawker's coverage of the case, Gawker experienced a series of DoS attacks attributed to 4chan users.

Parry Aftab harassment

After the Good Morning America interview, the television audience was given advice on how to handle online bullying from Internet privacy expert Parry Aftab. Aftab herself was subsequently subjected to harassment attributed to 4chan users in the forms of Google bombing false child molestation rumors, the distribution of her own personal information, threatening telephone calls, and DoS attacks against her websites wiredsafety.org and aftab.com. Aftab canceled a follow-up GMA report due to air the next day because of the harassment.

Reactions

In Australia, advocates of Internet censorship invoked the harassment to support mandatory Internet content filtering. In France, L'Express described the harassment as "ruining the life" of "an American woman in the throes of adolescence."

In the aftermath of the case, Stickam Worldwide Chairwoman Pamela Day recorded a video addressing the problem of online bullies and predators, discussing the safety measures Stickam took in Slaughter's case, and noting that Stickam ultimately banned Slaughter from their service due to her underage status. Stickam subsequently adopted a "zero tolerance" policy that bans for life "any member who attempts to share nudity, cyber bully and harass other users, or is identified as an online predator."

See also

• Cyberbullying
• Viral video
• Internet celebrity