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2020届英文翻译

目 录

英文原文 2

Cyber Libel or Criminal Harassment: When Do Kids Cross the Line? 2

中文译文 5

英文原文

Cyber Libel or Criminal Harassment: When Do Kids Cross the Line?

Cyberlibel is at such an embryonic stage that conclusions would be both presumptuous and overridden almost immediately by technological advances. Consequently, we feel it is more appropriate to describe [it]...as crystal ball gazing.

(Potts amp; Harris, 2004)

A good reputation is closely related to the innate worthiness and dignity of the individual. It is an attribute that must, just as much as freedom of expression, be protected by societyrsquo;s law... Democracy has always recognized and cherished the fundamental importance of an inindividual... The reputation tarnished by libel can seldom regain its former lustre. A democratic society therefore, has an interest in ensuring that its members can enjoy and protect their good reputation so long as it is merited.

(Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto, 1995)

INTRODUCTION

The introductory quotes illustrate the enormous legal dilemmas and concerns that have emerged with the advent of technologies. Teachers, school and government officials, parents, and students who have been victims of demeaning online cyber expression are naturally concerned about their hard-earned reputations. In the case of teachers, student online postings that accuse them of being bad teachers or pedophiles can impact their self-esteem — and even the possibility of finding employment or seeking promotions. Because teachers are in such a position of fiduciary authority vis-agrave;-vis children, school boards may not risk hiring them if there is any doubt about their ability to take on those positions responsibly. Hence, many teachers are asking whether the solutions lie in litigation. If this avenue is adopted, will it in fact make any difference? Moreover, our systems of common law and stare decisis (adherence to precedent) have been largely based on traditional responses that worked when the Internet did not exist. Judges who developed many of the legal doctrines at least a century ago would never have dreamed there would come a day when so much expression that might be deemed libelous or defamatory would take place every second, at global levels. These doctrines nonetheless continue to inform legal tests that contemporary judges use to adjudicate defamation and libel decisions. Nor would they have foreseen the permanency and persistence of such expression or the infinite audiences that would gain access to such expression. Although culturally in the West, it may be seen as expeditious to launch lawsuits against cyber offenders, the effectiveness of such an exercise is yet to be determined. Moreover, many judicial systems are already burdened with heavy backlogs and case loads. My doctoral research on the legal obligations of schools disclosed that courts set high thresholds even in cases of egregious

physical harm in schools because they want to avoid the floodgates to litigation (Shariff, 2003). As American lawyer David H. Donaldson observes:

We know that as the Internet grows, there will be more and more lawsuits involving libel and defamation....The only question is if the number of cases will grow steadily or if there will be an explosion of lawsuits all at once.

(Donaldson, as quoted in Potts, 2004a)

Educators and policy makers need to understand how the law of libel and slander might help them, but they also need to realize its enormous complexities and limitations, particularly when applied in the context of the Internet. In this chapter, I address some of the legal considerations that arise by reviewing landmark cases in Canada and the United States. Before doing that, however, I believe it is important to take a look at what is happening in other countries to gain a sense of how countries such as China and India with enormous populations and Japan, which is well known for its technological advances, are coping and responding.

In Chapter 1, I introduced a few international examples of student expression on social networking sites, where teenagers demeaned teachers, school officials, and peers, sometimes in graphically sexual and insulting ways. I begin this chapter by revisiting and adding to those examples, to highlight the cultural influences that inform the online expressions and responses to them. I also bring in statistics from research findings and discuss the legal implications within cultural and social contexts. One common aspect that is disclosed in the research is that no matter what country is involved, student perpetrators insist their “jokes” are taken too seriously and that what they are doing is no different from graffiti on washroom walls. The pattern among offending students is a denial of responsibility by insisting their comments were private and directed toward friends. The difference in legal responses between countries involves a cultural interpretation. It is also dependent on the threshold of people within different cultures to accept such expression as pranks and jokes, or to take them more s

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