WEB NEWS - British teen suicide refuels fight against online bullying
- 11 years ago
Today on the net, the suicide of a teenage girl in the UK revives debate on cyber bullying. "Unicorning" becomes the latest trend to hit the web. And a Tumblr blog replacing musical instruments… with dogs…
British teen suicide refuels fight against online bullying
14-year-old Hannah Smith visited the site Ask.fm looking for advice on treating her eczema. And in return the British teen was bombarded with insults and hate-filled messages, something her father David said pushed her to take her own life; she was found hanged at her home on August 2nd.
Ask.fm which allows users to post anonymous comments or questions has been directly involved in at least 3 other teen suicides in the UK and Ireland in the past year.
Tragedies that have revived debate on cyber-bullying, prompting the British authorities to address the problem: the Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a boycott of sites and social networks that do not do enough to tackle online abuse.
An appeal relayed by the "Beat Bullying" charity which is urging advertisers to withdraw their business from the site Ask.fm until its administrators take concrete measures to protect users.
And with a number of companies saying they will no longer be advertising on the platform, which is based in Latvia and has some 60 million members across the globe, its two founders Mark et Ilja Terebin have posted an open letter online, saying they are taking the cyber bullying problem very seriously and are currently helping the British police in its investigation into Hannah Smith’s suicide.
"Unicorning" is the latest trend to hit the web
"Planking" which saw web users lying fac... Go on reading on our web site.
http://www.france24.com/en/taxonomy/emission/18008
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British teen suicide refuels fight against online bullying
14-year-old Hannah Smith visited the site Ask.fm looking for advice on treating her eczema. And in return the British teen was bombarded with insults and hate-filled messages, something her father David said pushed her to take her own life; she was found hanged at her home on August 2nd.
Ask.fm which allows users to post anonymous comments or questions has been directly involved in at least 3 other teen suicides in the UK and Ireland in the past year.
Tragedies that have revived debate on cyber-bullying, prompting the British authorities to address the problem: the Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a boycott of sites and social networks that do not do enough to tackle online abuse.
An appeal relayed by the "Beat Bullying" charity which is urging advertisers to withdraw their business from the site Ask.fm until its administrators take concrete measures to protect users.
And with a number of companies saying they will no longer be advertising on the platform, which is based in Latvia and has some 60 million members across the globe, its two founders Mark et Ilja Terebin have posted an open letter online, saying they are taking the cyber bullying problem very seriously and are currently helping the British police in its investigation into Hannah Smith’s suicide.
"Unicorning" is the latest trend to hit the web
"Planking" which saw web users lying fac... Go on reading on our web site.
http://www.france24.com/en/taxonomy/emission/18008
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en