2012年10月10日、カナダ人の少女アマンダ・トッド (Amanda Todd) が数年間にわたるネット上のイジメとハラスメントが原因で自殺をした。ジュディス・ブルーン (Judith Bruhn) が衝撃的なケースを提示する。

ケース
12歳の時、アマンダ・トッドはウェブカメラを使用したサイトにログインし、30歳の男と知り合い、男にお世辞を言われた結果、胸を見せた。男は少女の胸の写真を撮り、彼女の家族、学校仲間そして近所の人の間に写真を配布した。アマンダは引っ越し、転校もしたが、男は彼女をストーカーしてハラスメントを続けた。これが原因となって、学校でアマンダはいじめられ襲われたりもした。年月が経つにつれ、アマンダはパニック障害になり、自虐をはじめ、何度か自殺を試みた。2012年9月7日、15歳のアマンダはYoutubeに9分間のビデオをアップロードし、画像内でフラッシュカードを使って自分がストーカーされ、いじめられ、襲われた体験について語った。同年の10月10日、彼女は自殺した。
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“How many girls have to kill themselves before society realizes that cyber bullying leads to suicide.” Over the past years we have seen many incidents of suicide attempts due to cyber bullying. Yet some of us claim that bullying (in the sense of freedom of expression) should be protected under the 1st amendment. This philosophy is however a drastically ignorant approach to a matter that can have a deeper impact on a person’s mental and physical state than anticipated. In the case of Amanda Todd, physical and cyber harassment were tools used to drive her into suicide. We believe that this would not have happened if the extent of the verbal abuse could have been limited by the school regulations and public laws. In cases like these speech and hate speech must be differentiated and dealt with accordingly. Reflecting upon that statement, we are highly convinced and fully invested in the thought that Amanda Todd would have seen another day, if the hostility and malevolence of her classmates would have been confronted and address as harmful and as a criminal offence.
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It is really a shocking news. Cyber bullying is one of the major problems for kids as they are exposed to different social media websites. Internet safety for kids are indeed these days and parental control programs helps protecting kids. I also use a parental control program for my kid’s safety.
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What a terrible news!
This is not only about the privacy, but the right to life. To protect users from cyber-bullying is a key topic that administrators must concentrate on.
Free speech is consist of rights to speak and the protection of personal reputation.