VIGILANTE JUSTICE?
A vigilante group of hackers has named and shamed a man who allegedly tormented the 15 year old Canadian girl who last week committed suicide a month after creating a heart-breaking video about being bullied.
Anonymous, a worldwide organisation of hackers, last week took matters into their own hands to track down a 30 year-old British Columbia man who Amanda Todd (pictured below) claimed had blackmailed her and harrassed her online.
Five weeks before being found hanged in her Port Coquitlam home last week, Amanda Todd had made her video as a heartfelt plea against the bullying she had endured for three years.
According to Canadian CBC News, during her video the teen explains in handwritten notes that she was in Grade 7 when she was lured by the unidentified male to expose her breasts via webcam.
She says that a year later she received a message from a man on Facebook threatening that if she didn’t give him a “show”, he would send the webcam picture to her friends and family. She says police later told her the man followed through with his threat.
In a video posted yesterday on YouTube, a masked figure says Anonymous made the connection between the man and Todd, and discloses personal information including his date of birth and address.
They have also provided the information to the authorities.
According to child advocates in Canada ”the kind of sexual exploitation described by Todd in her video is part of a seedy cyber-underworld that targets young girls and it is not bullying, but a vicious crime that should be pursued even after her death.”
But should it be pursued in this way?
Is this digital mob rule, or justice for a tragic young girl?
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5 Responses to this article
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The Huntress October 17, 2012
Difficult call to make. Generally I support Anonymous and the work they do…however I don’t believe that the alleged perpetrator should ever have their details released to the public.
Anonymous are right in handing over the details to the authorities, who will hopefully ensure justice will occur. Due process must be allowed to happen and even in an emotional case like this everyone still has the right to innocence until proven guilty. I personally do not condone vigilanteism, no matter how much my heart hurts for this poor young lady and her grieving family. I do hope, however, that Anonymous’ work will help for Ms. Todds family to put the pieces of their lives back together as best they can.
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Nat October 17, 2012
If it’s true that the guy who had the photos did go to the police, why didn’t they do something? Possession of child pornography? Talk to the girl? Production of child pornography? Blackmail? If the community seems to believe that justice has not been done, they will do it themselves. Anonymous have a great skills set. It would have been better just to help the police and not publish publicly.
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chris October 17, 2012
you go Anonymous! Quite frankly look where relying on the state for protection and justice has got most women so far.
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Mum of Adult Kids October 18, 2012
My heart breaks for the family of a young girl who thought that the only way out was a permanent one. Suicide is one of the most tragic experiences in life, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Ever so sad.
