Teen Who Used Facebook Images To Rank Looks Of Female Classmates, Arrested For 'Disorderly Conduct'

For anyone who's seen The Social Network or is familiar with the history and lore of Facebook, you know that prior to starting Facebook, Zuckerberg got in a bit of trouble for creating "Facemash," which took photos of students from various online "facebooks" around Harvard, put two of them together, and let people vote on who was hotter. So it's interesting to hear that a teenager in suburban Chicago has been arrested for using Facebook to do something similar with is own classmates:

A teenager who allegedly ranked females in a list on Facebook by their physical appearance has been arrested, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.

The 17-year-old, whose name isn't being released because he's a minor, is a former student of Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Ill., and the girls he is accused of ranking in the list include former classmates, the Tribune said.

Oak Park Police believe he not only created the "offensive list" but also was responsible for circulating it online, the report said. The teen was arrested Monday at home and is being charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, the Tribune said.

While I agree that this may have been a real jerk move by the kid, it's hard to see how this should be an arrestable offense. Disorderly conduct seems like a ridiculous charge here. How is being a jerk online "disorderly conduct"?

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Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110512/13563714254/teen-who-used-facebook-images-to-rank-looks-female-classmates-arrested-disorderly-conduct.shtml

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