Facebook terrorism has become a pandemic in our society in the past few years. You may think that the use of the word “terrorism” is a bit strong, but this cyber-bullying is leading to a spike in teen suicide all over the world. Facebook Terrorism is more intense and blatant than warfare.
Facebook Terrorism is the public bullying of a person through the use of their facebook wall, newsfeed, and other aspects of the social networking website. There have been so many sickening examples of this in the past year that it has become apparent that some controls need to be put in place; even if that means a higher level of profile monitoring regardless of the privacy issues involved.
The most recent story I had read made me feel sick to my stomach. A 16 year old girl was drugged and gang raped at a rave in Pitt Meadows, B.C. As a result of the date rape drug, she did not remember the event until she found the photos and video of the rape on Facebook several days later. The photos were removed by the RCMP, but have resurfaced elsewhere on the internet. "This victim is having to relive it on a daily basis, because we get the photos taken off, and then all of a sudden they're redistributed and others are viewing it," RCMP Insp. Derren Lench says. If that’s not terrorism, I don’t know what is.
15 year old Holly Grogan jumped 30ft to her death after enduring bullying and abuse posted on her Facebook page. Her friend admitted that a group of girls would gang up on her and post a series of abusive messages on her Facebook wall. A 14 year old boy committed suicide after fellow students made comments about his sexual orientation on Facebook.
Facebook has morphed from a tool one can use to connect with people all over the world and a great promotional tool, to a weapon. This is a larger problem within the teen demographic, but it does exist outside of that.
A close friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver as she was working as a tow truck driver here in Winnipeg. Quickly after her death, family and friends created a memorial page for her on Facebook so people can share memories and grieve together. The driver of the other car was a young man in his 20’s and was in the hospital after the crash. His friends felt the need to go on this memorial page and write hateful comments about our friend who had died, in a way of defending him. Commenting on her sexual orientation, promiscuity, etc. etc. etc. This was a form of Facebook terrorism targeted at a large group of people, and imagining her parents and sister reading the abusive comments these strangers were writing is maddening.
Facebook terrorism ruins lives and is never acceptable. This is a pandemic that should not be taken lightly or without action to stop it.
Some more resources:
http://Cyberbulling.us
Cyber-Bulling statistics
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