Internet Vigilantism

A vigilante, as defined by Wiktionary is “[o]ne who takes the law into one's own hands”. Internet Vigilantism is a very recent phenomenon that came into existence as a result of the formation of the web community with the birth of the internet and the World Wide Web.

Though the word vigilante has good intention tied with it, the Internet Vigilantism phenomenon is somewhat disturbing, due to many cases of it being similar as to the harassment of a lynch mob. The most notable method of Internet Vigilantism is public shaming, where the violator’s crime is publicized widely across the web, almost always followed by personal information of the perpetrator such as name, photos and even email and home address. Social networking tools as well as forums are utilized, thus leading to the public shaming spreading faster than an epidemic across the world.

Dog Poop Girl

One of the most widely publicized and talked about example of public shaming tied to Internet Vigilantism and followed by harassment of a lynch mob is South Korea’s “Dog Poop Girl”. In 2005, a commuter in Seoul took a photograph of a fellow commuter who refused (using colorful language) to clean up her dog’s defacement on the floor of a subway car. The photo showed the dog owner, a Korean woman, seated in the subway car with her dog in her lap; it’s defacement on the floor in front of her. Fellow passengers surrounding her look down upon the sight with disgust plainly visible on their faces. The commuter who took the photograph posted it on a popular Korean website, voicing his anger and disgust.

Within hours, Internet Vigilantes quickly sprang into action, labeling her as “Dog Poop Girl” (it being the less colorful version of the woman’s new title) and began spreading the photo across the web. Within days, as further punishment for her violation, she was identified and much of her personal information was exposed on the internet, as well as more pictures of her. Parodies of the incident were even made. The story reached mainstream media, and the public humiliation and harassment, even against her own family, lead the woman to quit her university and issue a public apology online.

Breaking the norm

It is interesting to note that the Dog Poop Girl case stemmed due to not following the norm, rather than breaking the law. The lady was expected to clean up after her dog. Instead, she refused and in a very offensive manner. Usually, this would follow with norm enforcement such as an angry scowl or someone telling off the lady. Dog Poop Girl’s norm enforcement was rather extreme, as she was tracked down by a cyber-posse, who took matters into their own hands and publicly humiliated her. She is forever branded as Dog Poop Girl.

A similar example is of 16-year-old New Yorker Sasha Gomez. She decided to steal a Sidekick II cell phone she found in the back of a cab rather than turning it in. Gomez was exposed and publicly humiliated by Evan Guttmann (friend of the cell phone owner), who tracked her down by means of the web. Another case is of Jesse McPherson tracking the person who stole his laptop, television and Xbox down after posting an obtained picture of the thief to his blog. The blog entry was then posted on Digg.com, a popular social news website, resulting in an angry mob of internet users tracking the thief’s name, home address and even high school. The violator was constantly harassed, until he confessed his crime and returned the stolen goods.

Patrick Pogan

Internet Vigilantism, in this case, was used to expose the wrong doing of public law enforcer. Critical Mass is a bicycling event held on a monthly basis in cities all over the world. It is perceived as a political protest activity, while participants claim it’s more of a gathering of people and a celebration. Critical Mass events can legally occur with no advance notification of local police, which leads to traffic problems and hence disgruntled road commuters.

During a Critical Mass rally in the streets of New York in July, 2008, Patrick Pogan, an NYPD rookie, intercepted Christopher Long, a participant in the rally, to the ground. Pogan filed a criminal complaint, outlining that Long:

• was weaving in and out of traffic, disturbing normal flow of the cars
• purposely veered into him, knocking him down and injuring him
• resisted arrest, kicking and screaming while doing so.

Long was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. However, within days, a video surfaces on YouTube of the incident in question that completely contradicts Pogan’s report.

The video clearly showed that:

• there was no car traffic on the road.
• Long in fact attempted to veer away from the officer, while Pogan clearly ran into the cyclist, body-slamming him to the ground, while the officer remained on his feet.

All charges against Long were dropped, and Pogan was stripped of his gun and badge and given a desk job instead. Seven months later, the police department suspended him, and he now faces criminal charges including filing a false instrument and misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault.

More to come

I only demonstrated a few cases of Internet Vigilantism in this article, however it is clear to me that this is a phenomenon that will grow more in scope as the internet and web continues growing and become more tied to our lives. It is somewhat worrying though, due to the public shaming being worldwide rather than just in the local community. Once branded or tainted on the web, humiliation and public scorn is hard to forget due to it always existing on the web, easily retrieved by Google. The Korean lady will always be known as Dog Poop Girl, Gomez always remembered for stealing a cell phone and Pogan will always be known for his criminal actions as a police officer. Internet Vigilantes exist in the cyber world, where laws and limitations of the normal world are not applicable and anything is possible.