INTERNET USERS HAVE been urged to boycott websites that allow unmoderated interactions between people in a bid to counteract cyberbullying.
The call by British Prime Minister David Cameron comes following the death by suicide of 14-year-old Hannah Smith after she was harassed on the website Ask.fm. Online bullying on the site, which grants users total anonymity, has also been linked to the recent deaths of other young people, including Irish teenagers Ciara Puglsey and Erin Gallagher.
Concerns over online harassment have been linked to Twitter in recent weeks, as well, after feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez – and other female users – were subjected to a barrage of rape, torture and murder threats from anonymous users.
While Cameron is calling for a boycott of sites implicated in such user-generated abuse, others have said more holistic approaches are needed to curb online bullying – including education, stronger frameworks for reporting abuse, and greater police intervention.
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