A Canadian lawyer says there could be legal implications for those posting unsubstantiated theories online about the two missing children from Nova Scotia.
Posts have been circulating on social media speculating what happened to Lilly and Jack Sullivan. The siblings, aged six and four, were reported missing on the morning of May 2 from their home on Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, which is about 30 kilometres from New Glasgow, N.S. The RCMP previously said the siblings were believed to have “wandered away.”
The case has garnered worldwide interest and a hunger from the public for answers. Some posts online include blaming the parents and suggesting they had something to do with their disappearance, pinning the parents against each other, claiming the children are alive, among other theories.
There are videos on social media showing people super-imposing themselves over images and/or video coming up with ideas or opinions based on small visual details or bits of information that were said.
Allison Harris, a lawyer with Carter Simpson in Halifax, says she sees “similarities” in terms of online rumors and accusations in comparison to the parents of a missing toddler she represented a few years ago.
Harris was involved in the case of three-year-old Dylan Ehler, whose parents took legal action over online harassment in the disappearance of their son from Truro, N.S. in May 2020.
The parents said within hours of their son going missing they were met with an onslaught of cyber bullying and harassment.
According to the family, Dylan was playing in the backyard when his grandmother turned her back to put a dog on the leash and Dylan vanished. Dylan was presumed to have fallen into the nearby Lepper Brook and drowned. His body was never found.
Harris said its becoming increasingly difficult with Facebook’s inability to post or show links to news articles from credible media organizations.
“Everyone’s posting screenshots, but now you can’t actually trust whether the screenshot is accurate or not anymore,” she said.
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She also said misinformation and rumors can impact the police investigation because investigators have to follow up on every lead.
“When a lot of it ends up being rumours, it’s taking away from valid calls that they’re getting and valid information … it just leaves a lot more for the police staff to wade through,” she said.
Earlier this week, police said they have received more than 180 tips from the public and that those are being followed up on.
Police have not revealed a lot of information on their leads or definitively confirm if any foul-play is suspected in the disappearance of Lilly and Jack.
Four-year-old Jack Sullivan, left, and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan, right. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Nova Scotia Ground Search and Rescue Association.
SDV
“And rightly so, the police can’t give us a whole lot of information at this point. So that tends to foster rumours online,” Harris said.
‘Relay on trusted sources’, police say
Global News spoke to Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay, a public information officer for the RCMP, who cautioned against the online speculation, reminding people to stick to trusted sources.
“It’s important to rely on trusted sources, whether it’s trusted reporters … or other media outlets. We provide the information to the public on our social media account at RCMP Nova Scotia on Facebook and Twitter,” Tremblay said.
After the children went missing, a lengthy and wide search, with upwards of 160 people, ensued that covered 5.5-square kilometres of heavily wooded, rural terrain with search dogs, helicopters and drones.
However, the RCMP said last Wednesday it had decided to scale back the search, saying the likelihood the children are alive is “very low.”
On May 8 and 9, police said the RCMP’s underwater recovery team searched bodies of water around Lansdowne Station but that the two-day operation “didn’t uncover any evidence.”
The children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, told Global News he and his family have been working closely with the RCMP to assist in their investigation. He said his side of the family are the only ones at the search site, after Lily and Jack’s mother left Pictou county shortly after the children’s disappearance.
When reached by phone, the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, said she had been advised by RCMP not to speak with the media further. Her mother, Cyndy Murray, also spoke to Global News and said the family was hoping for a positive outcome.
Meanwhile, Harris also said some of the biggest differences she sees from this most recent missing children’s case and the one she represented a few years ago is that “a lot of the posters now are listed as anonymous” as well as “images being doctored in a way that they weren’t before.”
“If it rises to the level of criminal harassment, or threats, the police will certainly get involved and there can be criminal charges laid,” Harris said. “On a civil side, the victims of these bullying posts do have some avenue to get justice.”
Harris said a person can file an action in the Supreme Court for a cyber protection order.
Under Nova Scotia’s Intimate Images and Cyber-Protection Act, civil action can be brought to court against alleged harassers.
She said if the posts and online content rises to the level of cyberbullying — which can be harassment online, incessant posting and/or grossly indecent posts — the judge can order people that are posting to stop, take down posts or remove groups from online.
“Depending on the harm that is done, damages can be awarded against the offending party,” Harris said.
— With files from Global News’ Rebecca Lau & Alana MacLeod
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