BleepingComputer.com: Victim outs stalker on Facebook

I ran across this article the other day. I am going to quote a bit of the article:

Top German high-jumper Ariane Friedrich has posted the details of an alleged cyber-stalker on her Facebook page, claiming that she wanted to name and shame the individual for sending her explicit pictures of himself.

"I've been offended in the past, sexually harassed and I've had a stalker before," she wrote, after posting the name and email address of a man who allegedly sent her a photo of his genitals in an email.

My first thought was "hell yeah". What better way to get some sort of vindication towards one's tormenter, especially given the burden of proof required by the US judicial system (Disclaimer: this was posted by a German citizen, and the judicial system is different than the judicial system in the United States). And although I think I might be inclined to do the same thing, I had a couple of thoughts.

Fist, how do we know if the alleged stalker is actually guilty of anything? Are we just supposed to take the word of Ms. Friedrich? Again, speaking as a citizen of the United States, this is clearly a violation of due process. What if she is just a jilted lover trying to get revenge and gain public sympathy?

Second, given the vigilante mentality that exists on the Internet, what would her level of responsibility be if someone decides to take up her cause and extract justice from this person? What if he were killed? Should she be held criminally liable for slander if the charges are not true and he comes to harm (again, this is not something that happened in the U.S., but I am speaking in terms of U.S. law)? What if, as a German citizen, she posted this information on a site that was physically located in another country?

It is just an interesting case to me. I am not sure that any judicial system is ready to deal with situations such as this, especially given the global nature of the Internet.

That's food for thought... I say yes, if anything happens to him, she is responsible. Due process may be slow, but it is important to justice for both.

Stalkers.. A friend of mine have one before.. they're scary.

Hi,

Friedrich said another sentence, which I think in this circumstance shows a lot about her feeling: I'm tired of being a double-victim, not only do I have to suffer the abuse, I also have to keep silent about it and thereby protect the offender. I won't do this any longer. (translation by me, from here: http://www.stern.de/sport/sportwelt/hochspringerin-ariane-friedrich-stalker-outing-entfacht-facebook-debatte-1817050.html ) Unfortunately feeling oppressed doesn't make it right.

Her actions have been discussed quite controversely in Germany, there are people backing her and people denouncing her actions as irresponsible. Most people agree that she should be leading as an example and therefore her actions were wrong. Personally I think she knew what it was doing. She's a police detective at her day-job and has filed for sexual assault against the person sending the facebook message.. I think I remember an article where she said she'd collected the necessary data to identify him.
I don't have a good background in law, but what I've taken from newspaper articles published here, she won't face criminal charges if her claims are true or even if it turns out that she made an "honest mistake", namely if she received the email and picture from the account. However she could be facing civil charges for breaching the person's privacy, even if he is the right person (and from any other person living in a town with the same name (and there seem to be several of those). Privacy laws are a lot tougher in Germany than in the US, from what I have seen in newspaper articles from both countries. In Germany a newspaper is not allowed to print the full name or un-pixeled pictures of either the victim or the offender. A report about "george zimmerman and trayvon martin" with mugshots of both is unthinkable here. The last names would be appreviated and the faces in the pictures blacked out.
Her actions and the possible consequences have been covered in minutious detail. The fact that she's been molested (virtually) has gotten almost no coverage. Hence, personally, I think people will think thrice before doing this again in Germany.

Timing has been very off for Friedrich, who posted her public outing on Facebook only 2 weeks after an (innocent) 18yo almost got killed by an angry mob in Emden because of wrong accusations on social networks: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120331-41681.html

This post has been edited by myrti: 15 May 2012 - 06:11 AM