5. Modern Day Familiarization with Technology
Roughly 99% of the students in the Toronto
area have access to at least one computer at
home.
2/3 of these students have more than one
computer.
Approximately half of the students own a
cellular phone.
During a 2010 Canadian Census, 78% of
Canadians reported having more than one
cell phone per household
Cyber Bullying Survey – 2008
Professor Faye Mishna
University of Toronto
*students in Grade 6,7, 10 and 11
7. How We All Use Social Media
• Talking with friends, fellow students, teachers
• Conversations, Sharing Videos and Pictures,
Offering/Seeking Help
• Catching Up with the News, Research, Worldwide
Sports
• Following Celebrities, Musicians, Athletes
• Promoting Events and Charities
• Public Safety Messages and Major News Stories
8. • Created in 2006 in San Francisco
• The platform was originally designed for the
Odeo company to be utilized by employees to
converse during brainstorming sessions.
• As of June 2012, there are reported to be 175
million Twitter accounts
• There are approximately 180,000 Tweets sent
each minute of everyday
9. • Created in 2003 at Harvard University by Mark
Zuckerberg.
• As of October 2012, there are reported to be over
1 billion Facebook profiles
• There are approximately 70,000 messages posted
to Facebook each minute of everyday
• Facebook will NOT make your photos public if
you are under the age of 18 yrs. Regardless of
your settings.
10. • Launched in October of 2010 and owned by the
Facebook corporation
• As of April of 2013, there are approximately 30
million users of Instagram.
• There are approximately 28,000 photographs
uploaded every minute.
11. • Also created in 2003 and based out of Beverly
Hills, California
• Up until 2008, this was the most visited social
networking site on the internet.
• Beginning to make a huge comeback in
popularity due to the part ownership by Justin
Timberlake
• Mostly used by youth gangs in the United States
• As of June of 2012, there are approximately 25
million users on MySpace
12. • Three former employees of PayPal created the
site in 2003. It is based in San Bruno, California
• 25% of the videos viewed from YouTube is being
done with mobile devices.
• Approximately 4 billion hours of video are being
viewed each month
• Every minute, 72 hours of video are uploaded to
YouTube, each day…That’s the equivalent of 36
full length feature films each minute.
13. In the five minutes that have just passed…
• 900,000 Tweets published
• 350,000 Facebook posts
generated
• 140,000 photos uploaded
to Instagram
• 360 hours of video added
to Youtube
• 6 people in this room have
vowed to cancel their
child’s cell phone plan
29. The Dark Side of Social Media
• Identity Theft
• Fraud
• Extortion, Bribery and Blackmail
• Cyber-bullying and Cyber-stalking
• Threatening and Criminal Harassment
34. 264. (1) No person shall, without lawful authority and knowing that another
person in harassed or recklessly as to whether the other person is harassed,
engage in conduct referred to in subsection (2) that causes that other person
reasonably, in all the circumstances, to fear for their safety or the safety of
anyone known to them.
(2) The conduct mentioned in subsection (1) consists of
(a) repeatedly following from place to place the other person or anyone
known to them;
(b) repeatedly communicating with, either directly or indirectly, the other
person or anyone known to them;
(c) besetting or watching the dwelling-house, or place where the other
person, or anyone known to them, resides, works, carries on business,
or happens to be; or
(d) engaging in threatening conduct directed at the other person or any
member of their family.
Criminal Code
Criminal Harassment
35. 264.1 (1) Every one commits an offence who, in any manner,
knowingly utters, conveys or causes any person to receive a
threat
(a) to cause death or bodily harm to any person;
(b) to burn, destroy or damage real or personal property;
(c) to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird that is the
property of any person.
Criminal Code
Uttering Threats
36. 346. (1) Every one commits extortion who, without
reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to
obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or
violence induces or attempts to induce any person,
whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or
menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything
or cause anything to be done.
Criminal Code
Extortion
37. 423. (1) Every one … who, wrongfully and without lawful
authority, for the purpose of compelling another person to
abstain from doing anything that he or she has a lawful right to
do, or to do anything that he or she has a lawful right to
abstain from doing;
(a) Uses violence or threats of violence to that person or his or
her spouse or common-law partner or children, or injures his
or her property;
(b) Intimidates or attempts to intimidate that person or a
relative of that person by threats that, in Canada or
elsewhere, violence or other injury will be done to or
punishment inflicted on him or her or a relative of his or
hers, or that the property of any of them will be damaged;
(c) Persistently follows that person
Criminal Code
Intimidation
42. EDUCATION ACT
• BEHAVIOUR, DISCIPLINE AND SAFETY:
• If you are being harassed or are the person
doing the harassing, know that:
• Even if this crime is committed outside of
school property
• IE: home, mall, etc…
• YOU CAN STILL be disciplined by your
school staff.
• Meaning you can be suspended or even
expelled.
43. THANK YOU!!!
• PC LAURIE MCCANN#5253
• 14 DIVISION
• 350 DOVERCOURT RD
• CRIME ANALYST AND SOCIAL MEDIA
OFFICER
• 416-808-1403
• TWITTER: @analyzethis5253
• FACEBOOK: Laurie McCann
• E-MAIL: laurie.mccann@torontopolice.on.ca
Notes de l'éditeur
We are here talking about social media and how it applies to our everyday interactions with friends, families and even teachers. By a show of hands, can I see how many people have at least one profile through social media platforms?By a show of hands, how many people have had a negative experience thru social media?Lastly, who is using their left hand to answer these questions?
Here are some examples of some of the most often used social media streams that we have available to us!How many of you in this room use more then one of these SM outlets?????So, exactly what is social media? We have all heard of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. There are countless websites that cater to this genre. New sites are popping up on a daily basis. Supply, demand and potential for huge financial gains. I describe social media as being a perfect blend of mainstream media and keeping a personal diary.
The internet itself, in it’s current format, has been in existence for 20 years. There have been extreme developments in the applications of the world wide web. I can’t even begin to fathom how many jobs have been created as a result of this technology and how many millions of dollars change hands on a daily basis from sales of software, computer products and other web-based products.In 2008, Professor Faye Mishna conducted a study based on cyber-bullying. What she found from this study is that almost every student in Toronto had access to at least one computer at home and almost half of them owned their own cell phone. This is Det Jeff Bangild’s daughter holding the digital SLR camera. Without any guidance, she is able to turn the camera on, focus the picture and take great shots!
Jack Dorsey is the brains behind Twitter. It was created in 2006 just north west of here in San Francisco. It was originally created for the Odeo company employees to communicate to small groups for brain-storming sessions. Dorsey is living a mediocre life on his net worth just above a billion dollars.Mark Zuckerberg is behind the creation of Facebook. The platform was created in 2003 as a means for fellow Harvard students to communicate with each other….so to speak.As of 2011, the net revenue of Facebook was $3.71 billion. Not sure if that is in US or Canadian funds. Might be closer to 4 billion Canadian.The net worth of Mark Zuckerberg is $9.4 billion.
Social media has become a part of our everyday lives. By us, I don’t mean the law enforcement community. I’m referring to society as a whole. The flow of information to and from social media is instantaneous. I think you’d agree with that even when watching our local news on the television, you are inundated with hash tags, Twitter handles and requests to “like” various pages on Facebook. We use social media to converse with our friends and associates, sharing photos of our lives and the stuff we do.. Celebrities have their personal accounts that gain millions of followers and support. We learn of upcoming concerts and book signings. Athletes take to social media to discuss recent matches and occasional converse with their fans. From a policing perspective, social media is an integral role in broadcasting public safety messages and seeking information regarding recent crimes.
I will start with Twitter. This platform was created by Jack Dorsey in 2006 as a means for employees of a company called Odeo to share ideas during brainstorming sessions. Based on information from last summer, there are approximately 175 million accounts. Naturally, that number is growing rapidly. On any given day, 180,000 tweets are being posted every minute.Twitter is considered to be a micro-blogging site in which users can post messages using up to 140 characters/key strokes. These messages can include external links or associated with photographs. In order to view someone’s messages, you either need to be “following” that individuals feed or have searched for that user or their content. The term hash tag are the messages we tend to see on traditional media. The number sign followed by a term is used to focus groups conversations towards a specific topic. It makes searching for a topic easier for the user. The “at” symbol is associated with an individuals account. So, for example @TorontoPolice.
Facebook…Pretty straight forward. It was created in 2003 by Mark Zuckerberg. In the initial stages of development, its use was much different than it is today. Much more sinister too. Harvard University maintains a book of faces (and personal information) of its students. Zuckerberg successfully hacked into the database and created a “Face Book” of its students and encouraged people to comment if they were hot or not. There are well over 1 billion Facebook profiles.Every minute, 70,000 messages are being posted to Facebook. The net worth of Mark Zuckerberg is 9.5 billion dollars. It’s not easy living pay cheque to pay cheque. Users who have profiles on this site can post messages, share stories, publish photo albums, play games and converse with other Facebook users.
Instagram is owned by Facebook. It is a platform that users can post photographs they have taken. It became available to the general public in 2010. As recent information shows, there are approximately 30 million Instagram subscribers. Instagram was once supported by Twitter. By this I mean, a user can post a link during a tweet to an instagram photograph and allow people to see the photo without having to leave the Twitter site. When they stopped supporting it, those links would send viewers to the Instagramsite. This caused so much controversy in the social media community that petitions were making their rounds on the internet and people tried influencing others to delete their Instagram accounts.There are approximately 28,000 photos uploaded to Instagram every minute.
Since I began this presentation…*CLICK* 900,000 Tweets have been published*CLICK* 350,000 Facebook posts have been generated*CLICK* 140,000 photos have been uploaded to Instagram*CLICK* 360 hours of video have been added to YouTube and finally*CLICK* 6 people in this room have vowed to cancel their child’s cell phone plan
Social media hasn’t necessarily changed the way in which converse. It has expanded our means in which we engage other people. Geographical boundaries no longer exist that once prevented us from extending our social circles.Interesting photo here. This picture is taken 8 years apart.In 2005, for anticipation leading to the naming of Pope Benedict.In 2013, the masses waiting for Pope Francis to appear on the balcony.
It’s not just people anymore. Technology is everywhere!
As a contrast, we can look at the information provided from social media platforms that actually hold some value. The internet is not entirely evil. Believe me. What sets social media apart from traditional media is the ability of the users to have a voice and an interaction towards other users, groups and events. Social media gives us a ground in which we can openly express our beliefs. It is no different than standing on a street corner and shouting to the passerbys. Through social media though, that voice has great potential to reach many more people. The medium will forever be changing but our ability to have an opinion will not.
In June of 2009, the Toronto Police Service were faced with an interesting challenge. Perez Hilton (aka Mario Armando Lavanderia Jr.) posted this tweet after alleging being assaulted by the Black Eyed Peas manager, Polo Molina. The obvious question is, why not call 9-1-1 instead of posting a tweet about the incident. I don’t think I need to answer that query.What I will ask though is, what should we do? Hilton has six and a half million followers. Can you imagine how many phone calls the Toronto Police Service received that day? Problem was, Perez never stated he was in Toronto. 911 calls were generated all over the world!The Toronto Police were receiving calls from the Canada, United States, Europe and even China. You can imagine those calls went something like this….“9-1-1 What’s your emergency?”“Perez Hilton is being attacked”…..”who?”“He’s famous. He has been assaulted”“where”“I have no idea”
Snapchat is the latest craze for iphone users. This app is known as a “safe Sexting” app.BUT did you know that any picture you send can be screen shot??????You will be notified that the user did screenshot your photo but by that point it is too late and the damage is done!Be aware that “NO SITE IS 100% SAFE”
Do you know what these girls have in common?????All of these girls have committed suicide over comments posted about them on this website.This site is more prevalent in the UK BUT this site has no privacy settings and the comments are anonymous.This site has 40 million users world wide.This site is used to bully other students, classmates and strangers.This site has now been linked to 6 suicides!
There is a dark side to social media however. Computer assisted criminal offences have become more prevalent in recent years.Mostly any crime can be committed with a keyboard, a mouse and an internet connectionIn my opinion, offences committed with the use of the internet and social media are far more damaging and severe than that of traditional means. Not only does the harm establish a digital footprint and a continuous reminder of the resulting torment, but the suspect can remain almost entirely anonymous.
Back when I was in school. Remember your days of grade school. When research was done in the school library by sifting through books and encyclopedia’s. There was no internet, no digital message boards and no email.THIS was bullying. This was harassment. *click over*Well, that’s awfully harsh! Also, entirely fictitious. Those in the immediate vicinity of the incident could have witnessed the harassment. Some could comment on it and join in on the bullying.
But get rid of the poster and what do you have left? No evidence of the bullying, no direct re-victimization, no constant reminders.
The same message posted in 2013….Retweets, forwards, the endless lines of people able to receive that message through social networking…The re-victimization happens at the click of a mouse. The original message may come down but once it’s established a footprint on social media, it’s always going to be there.
In 1993, Criminal Harassment became an offence as a federal statute, that being the Criminal Code. You’ll note that nowhere within the definition of the offence, is there a specific element to include computer usage to commit the act. Aggravating factors under this section can be included in sentencing if there was already a court order in place, such as a restraining order or a peace bond. There have been a number of court decisions that further address the issues surrounding this charge.
While the offence of threatening does stand to be fairly straight forward, there are a few points to consider. For instance, the intended victim of the threat does not need to be aware of the threat. This is a fairly common occurrence within our schools, is it not?As stated, the threat that is conveyed can be by any means. This of course, includes the internet.
Let’s consider something on a much smaller scale. If you have received a single or very few messages on a social media site, such as death threats, we clearly need to collect that evidence. Photographing the messages is perhaps the easiest way to collect this. Be sure that the unique URL is captured though. This can always be referenced at a later time should the need arise.Load your screen capture onto a private photo album like Picasa or google+ and write a caption beside it stating how that message or tweet made you feel.