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Son Sues Mother Over Facebook Posts 428

Most kids hate having their parents join in on a discussion on Facebook, but one 16-year-old in Arkansas hates it so much he has filed suit against his mother, charging her with harassment. From the article: "An Arkadelphia mother is charged with harassment for making entries on her son's Facebook page. Denise New's 16-year-old son filed charges against her last month and requested a no-contact order after he claims she posted slanderous entries about him on the social networking site. New says she was just trying to monitor what he was posting." Seems like he could just unfriend her.

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Son Sues Mother Over Facebook Posts

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  • by ari_j ( 90255 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:00PM (#31764894)
    The real question I have is how someone from Arkadelphia learned to get on Facebook in the first place, much less two of them.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Locke2005 ( 849178 )
      I spent a decade in Arkansas one summer... trust me, any disparaging remarks you can heap on those people are well deserved.
    • Yeah, and why is the son so Arkannoyed?
  • Alternatives (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mr100percent ( 57156 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:05PM (#31764948) Homepage Journal

    I suppose simply unfriending her would not be feasible. (Maybe she'd take away his computer if he tried or punish him or something)

    There are clear and easy alternatives. Delete her posts after she makes them, or even better, use Facebook privacy controls to remove her ability to comment on his posts. I'm kinda surprised he didn't put her on Limited Profile, like everyone else seems to do. That's the best because people don't always realize they're being shut out of something.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      I suppose simply unfriending her would not be feasible. (Maybe she'd take away his computer if he tried or punish him or something)

      The kid lives with his grandmother and the mother has no custodial rights. That would make it a little hard for the mom to punish him in any way.

    • That's the best because people don't always realize they're being shut out of something.

      I love the "Tachy Goes to Coventry" (Global Ignore) feature of vBulletin. Banning users, or having the user *know* they are ignored just prompts them to find ways around it. When the user spins their wheels and has no idea they are being ignored, they keep doing it. Funny, actually.

    • Re:Alternatives (Score:4, Informative)

      by Davey McDave ( 926282 ) <psychodave@gmailFREEBSD.com minus bsd> on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:36PM (#31765486) Homepage

      A case of RTFA in this case, a careless untruthful comment on the summary.

      "In a document from the Clark County prosecutor, he alleges she hacked his account, changed his password and posted things that involve slander about his personal life."

      The posts weren't from her account on his statuses or whatever, it sounds like she actually went onto HIS account and posted slanderous things in his name (or at least, that is what is being accused). Sounds a little more serious now.

    • by Imrik ( 148191 )

      I suppose simply unfriending her would not be feasible. (Maybe she'd take away his computer if he tried or punish him or something)

      There are clear and easy alternatives. Delete her posts after she makes them, or even better, use Facebook privacy controls to remove her ability to comment on his posts. I'm kinda surprised he didn't put her on Limited Profile, like everyone else seems to do. That's the best because people don't always realize they're being shut out of something.

      Read the article, she allegedly hacked his account and posted under his name.

    • Just a little difficult to do after she has changed the password... she was posting AS HIM.
    • The article is lacking detail on the exact actions taken, but he is accusing her of logging into his account and posting as him and changing his password, not just posting things to his wall or comments to his status. If she did use his log-in, then he actually has a case.

    • by adisakp ( 705706 )

      I suppose simply unfriending her would not be feasible. (Maybe she'd take away his computer if he tried or punish him or something)

      If you RTFA, the mother actually hacked into his account (guessed his password?), changed the password, and made posts as him.

      In a document from the Clark County prosecutor, he alleges she hacked his account, changed his password and posted things that involve slander about his personal life.

  • by Millennium ( 2451 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:14PM (#31765114)

    So at first I felt like the kid was overreacting. Parents (or those in loco parentis, which I'll get to in a moment) have a legitimate need-to-know when it comes to what's going on in their kids' lives.

    However, according to the article, this kid's mom doesn't have custody. The grandparents do, and so this doesn't seem to be due to divorce or other "ordinary" situations that would cause a parent to lose custody of their own kids. In other words, something is seriously messed up here, and so while the fact that this is a mother/son thing is good for grabbing ratings, it's not really all that relevant to the matter at hand.

    Moral of the story: RTFA.

    • What the heck is happening in the U.S. these days? I've heard at least half of my kids friends' utter the phrase "I have to ask my grandma".
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anubis IV ( 1279820 )
      If you read through the comments on TFA, the mother actually starts responding. Supposedly, she had a mental breakdown (her failure to grasp the English language might have been her first clue) after going through a nasty divorce with her husband, followed up shortly thereafter by a fire in the house where she and her son were living. As a result, the son is now in the custody of his paternal grandmother, he hasn't seen the father in a number of years, the father isn't paying support, and the son apparently
  • by Kirin Fenrir ( 1001780 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:16PM (#31765160)
    Now, I don't use Facebook (or any similar site), but can't he just block her?

    Since when have people become so helpless online that they cry for help every time somebody does something they don't like? You can TAKE YOURSELF OF OF ANY SITUATION ONLINE.

    This is why I have no tolerance for anyone using the term cyber-bullying. Even if you have a full-on /b/tard attack, they'll get bored and go away if you ignore it long enough. Welcome to the internet, thar'be trolls here.
  • by random coward ( 527722 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:19PM (#31765200)
    According to the article; she isn't his costodian, and she didn't just post on his wall; she stole his password and posted to his wall as him. So identity theft much? Computer crime much?

    The fact that a Judge granted the restraining order against a women on behalf of a 16yo male(son) also should be a good indication of the situation.
    • I don't use Facebook, but are you not able to edit your own posts? Or is it like Slashdot, written in stone once you hit submit?
    • For free entertainment go read the comments on the story. Mom has registered and is spamming the board with her side of the story.

      One thing I will agree with her on (if true) is that if the kid was stupid enough to leave his account logged in on her computer then he got what he deserved. I don't know too many people that haven't been the victim of leaving their account logged in only to find someone else "updated" their status for them.

  • Stupid woman (Score:5, Informative)

    by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:33PM (#31765420)
    Half of the comments on that article are by Ms. New herself. Obviously she hasn't hired a lawyer yet, because the first thing a lawyer would do is tell her to STFU... she isn't making herself look like any more fit a parent by showing her ass in public in all these postings... and they're probably admissible in court as evidence that she is continuing to harass and slander her son!
  • Facebook is a really lame site. If he cares so much about her posts then just close the facebook account. You want to update your friends call them, talk to them. Facebook is the reason people are becoming anti social. For thousands of years people got along with out facebook and I bet we can get along again by just doing face to face or call to call social networking.

    On the other hand, she shouldn't post on his wall but the simple solution is post on her wall, if she did steal his password he can cha
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by BobMcD ( 601576 )

      Right, the kid should cut himself off from something his peers consider normal behavior because his mom is a whack job.

      Wait, why?

  • I see that most people are commenting on just the headline without understanding the issues because they haven't read the...

    wait, this is slashdot. I suppose it's not surprising.

    Still this is one time that not reading the article is going to bite you in the ass.

    A custodial parent does have the right to discipline their child. This parent could remove access and legally post (from their account) comments on their child's wall. Whether or not they have the right to hack the kids account is really not clear

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Locke2005 ( 849178 )
      The mom is NOT the custodial parent... did you RTFA?
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by BobMcD ( 601576 )

      I'd deal with them by denying access to the computer at my house and grounding them unless they deleted their account permanently or cleaned it up.

      "Uh, hi, DFS? I know this guy who tortures his kid by denying all access to her friends. He's making her a social pariah because he's a total psycho. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes her strip naked in front of him to make sure she isn't hiding a cell phone. The address is..."

  • by tompaulco ( 629533 ) on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:45PM (#31765678) Homepage Journal
    If he is emancipated from his mom, are they still considered brother and sister?
  • "New's son lives with his grandmother who has custodial rights, but New maintains she'd had a great relationship with him despite their living arrangements."

    I would wager that there relationship isn't so great, and this is just one thing of many.

    His mother doesn't not have custodial rights. So none of the usual parent reasoning applies.

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