With the recent implementation of Massachusetts state policies combating cyber bullying in public schools, the ever-complicated issue of how to deal with online harassment has begun to undergo new scrutiny on the Hill. Students and faculty — including Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman — have formed a task force to address cyber bullying at Tufts. The issue of cyber bullying among Tufts students is certainly nothing new, and it is necessary that the university create policies and procedures to deal with such online verbal attacks, anonymous and not.
Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry solution to prevent and punish cyber bullying. Because many cases of harassment on the Internet are anonymous, they cannot be addressed in the same way as similar incidents that take place on campus. That being said, students, as members of the Tufts community, agree to a certain code of conduct that protects them and other students from verbal harassment, and Tufts has made it clear that incidents of bias and harassment are not tolerable on campus.
Students are aware of this code of conduct that they are bound to when they are on campus, but the university does not specify if nor when these policies apply to behavior online. If a student harasses another student in the Mayer Campus Center or threatens his or her roommate in their dorm room, that student will likely be aware that the university can take disciplinary action on him or her. But what if the student puts up a blog post or YouTube video exhibiting behavior or speech that Tufts would consider harassment deserving of disciplinary action? Would it make a difference if the student did this while on campus versus off campus?
A student at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) recently posted a video to YouTube of herself making racist comments about Asian students at the university library. The video has gone viral, and UCLA is now considering disciplinary action against the student. This type of incident could easily happen with a Tufts student, and yet the university has no specific policy explaining whether such behavior falls within the realm of Tufts disciplinary action; the university would undoubtedly have a difficult time deciding what action to take. Additionally, it is not fair for the university to punish students for their behavior online if there are no specific policies outlining that such behavior is punishable by the administration. Whatever the policy is — whether it encompasses all online content or none at all — the university needs to outline when and how cyber bullying falls under the umbrella of the rules of conduct in the Tufts student handbook.
In addition to instituting a policy, students also need to be educated about what cyber bullying is, what their resources are when they are victimized and what ramifications can occur when students harass or threaten others on the Internet. For students who are victimized online, they may feel that because the posts are anonymous, there is little that the administration can do to help. In this same vein, students who post anonymously may believe that they can say anything they want without their identity ever being discovered. While laws surrounding online harassment are somewhat complex and still in the developing stages, students who post anonymously may not consider the fact that legal charges of defamation can still apply to online comments and that the police are capable of locating the IP addresses of posts if evidence merits a warrant for this information.
The Daily does not support the university accessing student IP addresses at its own discretion, as this is a violation of student privacy. This does not mean, however, that the administration is helpless in terms of protecting students from harassment and threats on anonymous forums. The university should institute a strict policy of reporting cases of online harassment and slander to the police, and administrators should make students aware that such behavior is not acceptable and will not be overlooked. Even if it is difficult to obtain a warrant for such information and impose actual legal action, the university must explain to students that they can be held legally responsible for their online posts and that the university will not turn a blind eye. While this may not stop every student from posting libelous matter online, it may deter some students and help the university move in the direction of keeping students accountable for their actions.
The issue of enforcing punishment for cyber bullying is difficult and complex, but this does not mean that the university should be complacent and fail to take action. The administration must act quickly to outline a specific policy and make students aware of their resources and the potential legal ramifications for their behavior on the Internet. Online harassment in the Tufts community is not just a fear of the future — it is happening right now, and it is time to address this issue.
