I was reading an article on a hacker who got off without being convicted for infecting a million computers and causing millions of dollors in damage. The Article was named Autistic Hacker Escapes Penalty. This really bugs me as the reason the hacker got off had nothing to do with him having Aspergers Syndrome. It makes me wonder if there giving the Autistic Community a black eye in order to further sensationalize there story.
Both crown lawyer Ross Douch and defence lawyer Tony Balme told the court that New Zealand police were interested in using Walker’s skills on the right side of the law.
And the only time Autism or Aspergers was ever mentioned in the article was
She also ordered Walker – who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism – to hand over his computer-related assets to police.
This story could of been easily titled Hacker Escapes Penalty, or Hacker ‘Akill’ Escapes Penality, or even Walker Escapes Penalty For Hacking – so why the Autism added to the story? I sent the following to the editor of the orrignating newspaper
I’m writing to you concerning an article your paper published on Mr. Walker an 18 year old hacker who escaped conviction for computer crimes. I’m bit concerned on how your paper is choosing to portray this news. The Article was titled ‘Autistic Hacker Escapes Penalty’ but according to your story the reason the individual escaped conviction was because law enforcement was interested in working with him on the right side of the law. My concern is why you decided to put the word Autistic in the title and mention Aspergers Syndrome in the article when it was completely irrelevant to the story.
I’m willing to guess the reason is you choose to further sensationalize your story – as someone with Aspergers Syndrome this offends me. Your using the name of a condition to to further your story, which causes misconceptions and hardships for Autistic People around the world
Zachary Lassiter
http://www.aspieweb.net
I hope for some form of response.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
i hope you get a response. And fast.
Interesting. I’m not exonerating the situation as you are quite right, Zach, but maybe the lawyers and the police thought that he may have trouble getting a job because he’s an Aspie (rightly or wrongly) and giving him a job was a way to keep him out of trouble.
Just putting a possible explanation out there for a thought or two.
But still! When they just mention that the hacker is autistic, it implies that all autistics/Aspies are criminals. Do you know what I mean?
I completely agree, but I doubt the autistic community is the first to suffer because of these tabloids.
I don’t know what’s more depressing, the fact that these papers write crap to try sell more papers, or that people actually buy, read and believe them.
Dear Unbeliever: Your comment makes me think of an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants that I saw recently. In the episode, Mr Krabs decides to sell newspapers to make more money, with SpongeBob as a writer. At first, SpongeBob writes stories that are boring, but true. So Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to get any kind of interesting story he can so the newspapers to sell. What follows is SpongeBob publishing stories that are interesting, but they are not true, and even worse, they ruin the lives of the subjects. In the same way, the news article is dragging autism into the situation unnecessarily and blackening the reputation of all autistics for no reason. And all for the sake of money.
This story the way it is portrayed, gives the message if you’re autistic you can get away with a crime.
You are absolutely correct that the headline is an outright lie. If it read “autistic person receives light sentence for hacking conviction” it might be more accurate. If it was ever argued by the defense that he should receive any special consideration due to a disability, then that could certainly be relevant.
It is an unfortunate reality that nationalism sells more than an unprejudiced reporting of facts. News reporting provides a very biased view of reality, which is obvious if you actually know what happens in a day vs what is reported in the news.
I would hope that your identity is invested in being more than autistic. My identity is much more than being someone with Asperger’s Syndrome. Any way its very rare for people in the media to choose to champion a specific cause to educate the public unless it specifically touches their lives, and just as rare for a media outlet to let them use their money, time and facilities to do so.