INTRODUCTION
This assignment asked me to summarize the "Star Wars Kid" saga and answer two questions: (1) is Raza's experience simply life in the Internet Age for which we can feel empathy but the experience should not be legally addressed in the courts? and (2) should Raza's bullying in class be addressed by schools in form of disciplinary action against students?
n November 2002, Ghyslain Raza , an overweight 14-year-old Canadian school boy, filmed himself at a high school studio for a class project. In the filmed video, (which you should view before continuing with this post) Raza mimicked Darth Maul from the famous movie series Star Wars by waving around a golf ball retriever as his toy lightsaber, Raza mistakenly left the tape in the studio where another student discovered the tape and, without Raza’s permission, circulated the videotape around the school. In April 2003, another student uploaded the video to the internet with the title Jackass_starwars_funny.wmv and a third student posted the video on YouTube. In the coming months, the viral video of Raza amassed millions of views on numerous platforms, and Raza became coined the "Star Wars Kid." Raza was the subject of intense cyberbullying, ridicule and harassment. Commenters said he should “kill himself” and made fun of his weight. Raza eventually dropped out of school and he became depressed and was entered into the psychiatric ward for children due to constant berating of his character.
Raza's parents eventually took legal action and sued the families of all three students initially involved in circulating the embarrassing video of their son for invading his privacy. In April 2006, both parties agreed upon a confidential settlement, and the footage ultimately was viewed more than 900 million times! Numerous petitions arose in support of Raza to get roles in upcoming Star War Movie projects, with one petition receiving over 140,000 signatures for Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. In a more recent interview by Raza conducted by CBR news, Raza stated that to this day," there is an element of surrealism in all of this." Raza initially tried to distance himself from the video as much as possible, not wanting to be recognized and bullied any further. However, several years later Raza stepped forward and began to use his situation to help spread a message of anti-bullying on the internet and the effects that cyberbullying can have on individuals.
THE ISSUE OF A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY
Many Americans mistakenly believe they have an absolute right to Privacy regarding their daily activities, the content of their conversations, and so forth. Yet, this misconstrued basis for which many Americans believe their Privacy exists is never once stated in the Constitution but instead is inferred from the 1st, 3rd, and 4th amendments within the Constitution. As such, typically, in a court of law to determine whether an invasion of one's Privacy has been made, a two-prong test is conducted to deduce whether, first, an individual shows "a subjective expectation that his activities or items would be private" and second, "that his subjective expectation of privacy is one in which society considers reasonable." This legal test is known as the Katz test,
LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS
With respect to Raza's video, and whether he had a reasonable expectation of Privacy, Raza initially did have an expectation, at just 14 years old, that a video he filmed with no one else present would remain private from the public. However, because he utilized camera equipment at the high school studio and left the camera containing the video at the studio, any individual could have accessed the footage. Given Raza's negligence and his poor care of the footage and the frequency at which that camera is used by others, it cannot be argued that he maintained an expectation of privacy in the videotape. Moreover, such an expectation would not be deemed reasonable under Based solely on this two-pronged test, the legal consensus is that while the situation could be better for Raza, it should not be addressed legally in court and has no constitutional basis. However, there may be some applicable "common law protections" for Raza. Because Raza was harassed and bullied as a result of the dissemination of the video without his consent, those protections could serve as a benchmark for Raza to sue for damages. It would depend on the common law of Canada and whether it is similar to the law in the U.S.
PUNISHMENT BY THE SCHOOL?
As for punishment for those who spread the videos themselves, or engaged in any cyberbullying, any disciplinary action enforced by the school would revolve around the school's individual policy. However, due to the sheer volume of cyberbullying on the interconnected web we frequently use, some schools have shifted from prevention to treatment. Offering activities in school and optimistic character reinforcement in assemblies, these intervention programs serve as guidance for future students who may find themselves in situations such as Raza to educate them on the consequences of cyberbullying and how to seek resources for help.
MY OPINION
The sad truth of the Star Wars Kid saga is that it is all too common in the Internet Age. Time and time again embarrassing videos/pictures from people’s pasts resurface, or videos/pictures that were not meant to be seen by the public. In this evolving age of technology and rapid publication of videos we should center our conversation on the invasion of privacy based on ethics. The ability of a user to publish a video should not be bound by legal matters but rather by an unofficial rule that allows those in videos, such as Raza, to express their concern and demonstrate their request to remove the video from the internet. The European Union, with its “right to be forgotten” allows this to happen. In the future, I hope for society to find the proper moral and ethical obligations when sharing videos, such as Raza's, to respect those included in videos and promote and foster a safer and more friendly online environment. Otherwise, we all risk becoming the next Star Wars Kid.
Sources:
River, Julie. “Star Wars Kid Opens up about Harassment Sparked by Viral 2000s Video.” CBR, 2 Apr. 2022, www.cbr.com/star-wars-kid-harassment-from-viral-2000s-video/. Accessed 18 Jan. 2024.
Taylor, Chris. “Reconsidering “Star Wars Kid,” the Early Internet’s Meanest Moment.” Mashable, 28 Oct. 2020, mashable.com/article/star-wars-kid-cyberbullying.
Report, Wired News. “Star Wars Kid Files Lawsuit.” Wired, www.wired.com/2003/07/star-wars-kid-files-lawsuit/#:~:text=Star%20Wars%20Kid%20Files%20Lawsuit%20The%20parents%20of. Accessed 18 Jan. 2024.
ASO staff writers. “Addressing Cyberbullying in School: Prevention and Victim Support.” AccreditedSchoolsOnline.org, AccreditedSchoolsOnline.org, 21 Feb. 2019, www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/cyberbullying-prevention-and-support/.
Wolford, Ben. “Everything You Need to Know about the “Right to Be Forgotten” - GDPR.eu.” GDPR.eu, 5 Nov. 2018, gdpr.eu/right-to-be-forgotten/.
“Bullying and Cyberbullying | SchoolSafety.gov.” Www.schoolsafety.gov, www.schoolsafety.gov/bullying-and-cyberbullying.
I appreciated the analysis of the reasonable expectation to privacy, and agree with the notion that maintaining privacy requires some degree of responsibility; when he left the camera, it became reasonable that someone may obtain and distribute the footage. I’m skeptical of the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ law as I understand it. What if someone in a public space winds up on a social media post? What if I post pictures of my family and a stranger is in the background? It doesn’t seem reasonable that my presence in a public space should interfere with everyone else’s ability to distribute media as they see fit.
ReplyDeleteI had not considered the use of communal equipment as waiving a reasonable expectation of privacy. Additionally, I also appreciate the mention of the possible difference between how Canadian and United States common law would approach this case. I believe the European Union's "Right to be Forgotten" law is more pertinent than ever. It has become increasingly common for people, especially on TikTok, to record people without their consent. I'm a very private person in regards to social media and have no accounts that the general public could access, I would be horrified if someone took a video of me without my knowledge and subsequently got hundreds of thousands of views at my expense.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this analysis on most points. Raza didn't make an effort to destroy or hide the footage and took the video using public equipment, so I don't think his privacy was violated when other students viewed it. I would argue, however, that distributing the video online violated his resonable expectation of privacy since most people have things they are comfortable doing in front of their school but not in front of millions of people. It's also important to note the fact that the internet was relatively new at this point in time. If the average person didn't know that a video posted online had the potential to be viewed hundreds of millions of times, then it was reasonable for Raza to expect his video might only reach a few hundred people if it was found.
ReplyDeleteThis story is one that's been echoed in many ways since sites like YouTube have been around. I know a few things kind of similar happened at my middle and high schools, although not nearly to this degree. Since we have a lot of details of the story, here's what I think: Since Raza was using public recording studio in his school, he didn't have the reasonable expectation of privacy - just like this blog suggests. However, the sharing of this video online obviously was not Raza's intent, and caused a lot of damages to him and impacted his life in unpredictable ways. If there was a case, it would be for the cyberbullying and unwanted online circulation of the video, not that it was found viewed by other students. As a last note, I really admire that Raza has spoken out about cyberbullying and used this event as a platform to share how serious an impact it can have on kids.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a great point to bring up the frequently used equipment provided by the school. I agree that by using the equipment and not removing the footage would result in a lack of expectation of privacy. Something I thought about was whether the room had security cameras. I acknowledge this case started at a slightly different time than today, but typically there are security cameras in rooms at schools for the safety of students, faculty, etc. However, in the circumstance of the presence of security cameras, it would also add to the absence of an expectation of privacy. As a side note, I do not believe anyone had the right (right meaning 'need', in this case) to take advantage of the tapes and release them to the public, which in return caused a tremendous amount of damage. This story, unfortunately, reminds me of many that circulate the internet today.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me as interesting was the fact that the Katz test could not apply to this case. I was impulsive while reading this and immediately believed that the Katz case would apply to this. I was proven wrong. I did not take into account the affect that Raza used High School equipment to record his infamous video. Thus, your argument that Torts are the only applicable legal option concerning privacy is wise. I would agree that common law torts concerning privacy such as misrepresentation of face(certain remixes were made of Rasa) and belief in solitude(Raza believed he was safe and in a private place). However the last part of the Katz test dosen't fulfill the claim. The only option was Torts. I also agree that the Katz test concerning cyber privacy will be more and more difficult to prove. I agree that the only legal option is one such as the EU which states that there is a "right to forget" on the internet and treats data such as property. I believe that the current solution of schools giving treatment does not help to protect cyber privacy and instead simply attempts to treat issues concerning it. I believe that soon there will be legal attempts to restrict abuse of privacy online.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the facts and analysis provided, I agree with several factors of this case. From a moral perspective, I have a lot of sympathy for Raza and his family. Dealing with the psychological and mental battles of such is beyond the scale that anyone can understand unless you are directly submerged in it. Looking at it from a legal perspective, I feel as though the expectation of privacy was only violated by posting the video without permission. But, it is important to consider that the footage on the videotaping device was school property and filmed within a public space. He didn't have a reasonable expectation of privacy because it wasn't his own property. With a case like this, I think it is important to acknowledge the differing factors that can be argued for the defense of both parties. As life unfolds, situations rarely go by the textbook, something in which we shall not forget.
ReplyDelete