Justice

One Mom's Online War to Stop Her Son From Becoming a Cruel Meme That Ruins His Life

February 4th 2016

"There is no way for me to know who did this, but for every post and share of this meme I will do everything in my power to get it taken down.”

Those are the fighting words of AliceAnn Meyer, a Texas mom whose son became a meme after a photo of him went viral.

JamesonAliceAnn Meyer - jamesonsjourney.com

Meyer’s son, Jameson, has Pfeiffer syndrome, an uncommon genetic disorder that prevents the skull from growing normally, therefore affecting head and face shape. After posting a silly photo of Jameson covered in chocolate and marshmallow in 2014, internet trolls turned the photo into a meme that compared Jameson to a pug.

As Meyer told the Daily News, "it was disheartening to see how many times it's been shared, and even in different languages.”

The biggest heartbreak came when Meyer asked people to take the photo down, but they didn’t understand Jameson’s reality. "One person told me the image was photoshopped, that it wasn't even a real person," Meyer said. "That struck a chord with me.”

Jameson and AliceAnnAliceAnn Meyer - jamesonsjourney.com

That didn’t stop the protective mother from trying to erase the viral bullying from her son’s young history. Meyer posted about her efforts on “Jameson’s Journey,” a blog where she chronicles her son’s life, and on social media. Her readers came together to have the memes removed, reporting one offensive photo at a time. Meyer also filed copyright violation claims for the photo.

Jameson AliceAnn Meyer - jamesonsjourney.com

Meyer's efforts make sense in light of the life-damaging effect of viral bullying campaigns.

Taiwanese model Heidi Yeh opened up in an interview with BBC about how becoming a meme destroyed her career and personal life.

Yeh was featured in a plastic-surgery ad in 2012, which online trolls eventually turned into a meme accompanied by a false narrative.

Model viral meme

According to the meme-makers, the above photo is evidence that Yeh's husband sued her for lying about not having any plastic surgery before they got married. The husband later realizes his wife is lying when they have “ugly” children, who look nothing like either of them.

Not only did no agency want to book Yeh after her story of facial reconstruction was believed to be true, but her personal life suffered as well. “People actually believed it and thought this has happened to me!’ said Yeh. “Even my relatives and fiancee’s family have asked me about it."

Fighting for Jameson.

Meyer is aware that this meme won’t be the last time Jameson gets bullied for being different, but she hopes her public mission will get others to step up and fight bullying, and raise awareness for kids with genetic disorders.

JamesonAliceAnn Meyer - jamesonsjourney.com

“People don’t know that they’re out there,” said Meyer, “and if everyone can learn something from this, then it’s a good thing.”

Related: This Model Became a Viral Meme and It Ruined Her Life

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