The Steubenville rape trial has been sending shock waves across the nation, going viral across all social media interfaces. And owing to the large scale social media craze, the Ohio teens have already been sentenced online, with videos and photos from the drunken party being used to incriminate them. The courtroom verdict is yet to arrive but these boys are being seen as full blown criminals already!
Other members who were present at the party that day have shared comments and videos about the rape victim on Twitter and Facebook, coupled with graphic text. And, owing to the huge exposure these platforms enjoy, these postings have ceased to remain within the circle of high school students. Therefore, it wasn’t long before groups and individuals gained access to the posts and the night’s events were openly publicized on the net.
Further emphasizing the significance of social media posts in this case, the victim’s mother addressed the offenders in court, saying, “You were your own accuser, through the social media that you chose to publish your criminal conduct on!” Ma’Lik Richmond, 16, and Trent Mays, 17, were convicted in the case and declared “delinquent.”
Social Media Substituting for Evidence
Text messages and social media posts are being increasingly used as evidence in courts. The growth in the use of smartphones is also being used by defense lawyers and prosecutors to make their case. Experts believe that this digital dependence is a trend that is here to stay and one that will change the way in which evidence will now be gathered for lawsuits.
In this case, the prosecutors provided evidence of May admitting in a text message to having penetrated the girl with his hand. In other messages, he asked his friends to provide cover for him. In order to strengthen the case, the prosecution also introduced a text message sent by the victim, which said, “I wasn’t being a slut. They were taking advantage of me.”
The social media exposure in this case managed to draw the ire of bloggers and social media watchdogs, who subsequently took the initiative to identify the perpetrators. Subsequently, the Facebook interactions and Twitter postings of the accused during the time of the rape were tracked down. They collected as much information as possible and published them on the Internet, seeking public consensus on these teenaged offenders who had committed obvious rape. This is how the entire hacktivism movement was stirred up that led to the arrest and conviction of the duo.
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