Online Suicide Brings Fury of Neighbors

Social networking degrades friendship, can lead to suicide

(NEWSER) - Facebook and MySpace are degrading our ability to relate to one another and pushing young people to suicide, the head of the Catholic Church in England tells the Telegraph. Archbishop Vincent Nichols is concerned that social-networking websites encourage teens to form only “transient relationships,” which can leave them feeling hopeless when they dissipate. More»

(AP) - A Los Angeles federal judge has tentatively thrown out the convictions of a Missouri mother for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old neighbor girl who ended up committing suicide. US District Judge George Wu acquitted Lori Drew of misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization. Wu says his ruling will become final when he issues it in writing. More»

Probation is no deterrent: prosecutors

(NEWSER) - Federal prosecutors are pushing for the maximum 3-year prison sentence for Lori Drew, whose MySpace trickery drove a 13-year-old to kill herself. “Defendant has become the public face of cyberbullying,” prosecutors wrote. “A probationary sentence might embolden others.” But in a presentencing report, probation officers said Drew should serve no more than 6 months, Wired reports. More»

Trial opens in nation's first cyber-bullying case

(NEWSER) - A mother tearfully recalled in a Los Angeles court yesterday how her 13-year-old daughter hanged herself shortly after receiving a hateful online message from a neighbor woman posing as a teenage boy, AP reports. Lori Drew allegedly created a MySpace persona named Josh to first woo then harass Megan Meier, prosecutors argued as the nation's first-ever cyber bullying case got underway. More»

Singer regrets blog post about death

(NEWSER) - After alarming fans in a recent MySpace blog post about death, Courtney Love reassures everyone: “No, I am not suicidal,” Us magazine reports. The musician, whose husband, Kurt Cobain, committed suicide, posted a follow-up to explain: “Occasionally, like all of us, I get depressed.” She said she has decided to quit blogging, because the negative press is upsetting her daughter. More»