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Cyber Self-Harm

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/08/cyber-self-harm_n_5288148.html
Hannah Smith was bombarded with vile messages telling her to kill herself. Posts on the website Ask.fm told her to drink bleach, that she was a slut, and encouraged her to take her own life. Last summer, she was found hanged in her room.

But the messages were not from internet trolls - 98% of the messages had come from the same IP address as Hannah’s, with about four posts that had not.

This week, investigating officers told an inquest that there was no evidence of cyberbullying from elsewhere.

I saw this story online and it really made me think. Firstly there is no insinuation that people who receive abuse online are making it up.

There are a number of factors that sadden me about this story. At the time I remember the raw emotion on the part of the family, all over the news, as they dealt with the passing of Hannah Smith. It caused a debate about online security and the dangers it posed to people, very saddening that it would have been so easy to turn off anonymous postings. It transpires according to technical evidence presented, that she sent 98% of the messages herself. It mentions that IPs were the same, that is not in itself proof, but other reports suggest that IPs used to log onto her account were not constant, but in 98% of cases matched the IPs used to post the messages.
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