Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

[charitynjw]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8747523.html

A 14-year-old girl killed herself after receiving a barrage of abusive messages on the social media site ask.fm, her father has said.
Hannah Smith was found hanged at her home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, on Friday. Writing on Facebook, her father, Dave Smith, said he had discovered cruel taunts on her profile on the question-and-answer site that allows users to send anonymous messages.
He called for the site to be shut down, writing: “The fact that these people can be anonymous is wrong. The person that created this website should be done for manslaughter. Any parents that have children, please don’t let them go on this site.”
One anonymous user repeatedly told Hannah that she should commit suicide, sending comments such as, “every1 will be happy if u died”.
The case is similar to that of 16-year-old Jessica Laney, who was found dead at her home in Florida in December after receiving abusive messages on social media.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Whilst I can appreciate his anger at what happened, it is really unfair and unrealistic to blame the operators or owners of the site, or to suggest they should be prosecuted for manslaughter.

For one thing, it is based in Riga, Latvia (link) where English Law has never applied.

Still, perhaps that may help to expiate his guilt for not having kept a closer eye on what his daughter was doing.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

The Independent used to be better than that. Their story is rather what one might expect from a third-rate, red-top tabloid paper - heavy on the tragedy but pitifully light on the facts. A far better report is to be found at link and much more detail is at link.

It appears that, whilst the taunts and jibes may have contributed to Hannah's demise, they were not the only factor. Like many other lasses of her age, she was convinced she was fat and was still upset over the recent death of an uncle. She also seems to have tended to harm herself.

The comments from ask.fm users were not entirely abusive but why let mere facts get in the way of the story?

If that's the best the Independent can produce these days, it's not even fit for wrapping up a fish supper!

[wales01man]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

I think these sites are not to blame how can they view so many pages of comments that are out uo?people especially the young need to know when to not view or even cancel their pages like we see in reports about twiyyer some use them to make threats they would never say face to face and would never carry out.Remember twitter facebook etc only exist to make money for owners only when things are highlighted by other media do they act,in the case of this poor girl I hope the family pursue those who made her life a misery but accepts some of the blame I would expect there is more to this than some vile internet remarks

[CleverClogs]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

I think these sites are not to blame how can they view so many pages of comments... ?

To give some idea of the scale of the problem, ask.fm has more than 60 million users

people especially the young need to know when to not view or even cancel their pages like we see in reports about twitter some use them to make threats they would never say face to face and would never carry out.

Such as allegedly threatening to blow up a snow-bound airport?

I hope the family pursue those who made her life a misery

I sincerely hope that they do nothing of the sort, as it would be difficult (if not downright impossible) and would only harm their lives yet further.

They should see the hateful messages for what they probably were: attempts by some socially inadequate children to make themselves feel better by redirecting their own self-loathing onto someone else.

[enaid]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

I have to agree with the two posters here, while what has happened is terrible and heart breaking for the family I can not help but think it is partly their fault. I know of quite a few children who are on FB my nephew is one and I do not agree with it at all I think he is far too young at 11 and he has been on there for a couple of years.
There must have been some other underlying factors to the suicide I would think and maybe the parents did not pick up on it (we often don't with our own). Very sad, but a solution to the problem I have no idea on.

[enquirer]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Did bullying in the schoolyard suddenly cease with the advent of Twatter and Prattbook? Did name calling in the street disappear overnight?

Why commit suicide because some dolt sends you a nasty message on a glorified transister radio? Does it have some mystic power? Or have teenagers lost their grip on reality and their parents completely abrogated their responsibility?

[labman]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

A terrible, but almost certainly avoidable tragedy. Parental controls are there for a reason. Films have age guides for a reason. Websites have Terms and Conditions for a reason.

We live in an age where everyone seems to know their rights, but very few know their responsibilities. Parents increasingly treat their young child as a mini grown up, discussing things in front of them which are highly inappropriate. Children grow up aware of so much, gleaned from advertisements, peers, magazines, television, websites etc.... but they are still children. They have the minds of children and are not able to deal with many of the issues which are being thrown at them at an increasingly young age.

I cannot help but think if families did things more as families rather than disjointed, separate little individual units supposedly comprising a family, things would be a lot better. Sadly, it's probably a bit of a dream nowadays, but one has to try to live in hope.

[Inca]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

My style of parenting was to try and 'think of it before he did'
Jacks my best friend as well as my son,,sure we had the teenage angst (till he realised I could shout louder,slam doors harder,keep up the silent treatment longer etc).
I was very vigilant re computer time,,we had 1 pc,,it lived in the dining room and I had 1 rule...if he ever deleted the browsing history it was going on the bonfire.
If he was down/quiet I TALKED to him,,didn't always like what I heard but talked nonetheless.
He was neither bullied nor a bully,if he had been bullied he knew full well his gobby Mum would have it sorted.
If he had been a bully,,his arse wouldn't have touched the ground until I was sure he learned it was not on.
You cannot blame technology for everything..computers aren't babysitters...but so many parents just don't take enough notice of what's going on right under their noses.

[charitynjw]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

From the ask.fm website

safety tips
Being part of our community means following our Terms of service.
Our Safety Tips will give you basic pointers about being smart and responsible on Ask.fm.

General safety
When you're online, there are some important safety precautions you should always keep in mind:
Be smart about the content you share. Never share personal information like phone numbers, email addresses or home addresses on your page. Block and report users who break our Terms of service, and tell an adult if you're being targeted. Don't respond to questions that are inappropriate or abusive.

Privacy
You can turn off anonymous questions in your Privacy settings - this way nobody will be able to ask you anonymously and you'll have a better control over content you receive in your Inbox. Remember that anyone on Ask.fm, and on the Web can see your profile and content, so think before you post!

Questions that cross the line
If you receive a question that makes you uncomfortable for any reason, do not respond to the question, tell a parent, guardian or other trusted adult and block the user who sent it so they can't contact you again. If the person keeps bothering you, report abuse to us by pressing the Report button and to law enforcement.

Anonymity
Anonymity should never be used to ask questions that are mean or hurtful. Asking a question anonymously on Ask.fm hides your name from the person you're asking and from other users. We will never reveal your identity to the user. This can be useful if you're feeling shy or think that the recipient would be more comfortable answering a question without knowing who may have asked it.
If you break the rules, you are responsible - and we can supply identifying information to law enforcement if necessary.

(From the Terms of Service)

• You understand that in using the ask.fm service you may encounter content that may be deemed objectionable, obscene or in poor taste, which content may or may not be identified as having explicit language. The ask.fm service allows for anonymous content which ask.fm does not monitor. You agree to use the ask.fm service at your own risk and that ask.fm shall have no liability to you for content that you may find objectionable, obscene or in poor taste.
• By way of example, and not as a limitation, you will not, directly or indirectly:
  • Transmit any pornographic, obscene, offensive, threatening, harassing, libelous, hate-oriented, harmful, defamatory, racist, illegal or otherwise objectionable material or content;
  
  
• Transmit material or content that promotes, provides or relates to instructional information about illegal activities or promotes physical harm or injury against any individual or group;
• Transmit or encourage the transmission of unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature;

• Terms of use are governed by Latvian laws and disputes are solved in Latvian courts.
• Correspondence address: Zala 1, Riga, LV-1010, Latvia.

[enaid]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Rules are made to be broken, sadly.
Her father stated on tv that she was being bullied for months, well if he knew why did he not do something about it?
He may not have known at the time, but why would the girl put herself through that time after time and for so long?
I can't help thinking there is more to this and maybe something will never find out.

[dogtired]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Very very sad. Like every one else cannot help thinking there must be more to this than meets the eye.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Whilst I can appreciate his anger at what happened, it is really unfair and unrealistic to blame the operators or owners of the site, or to suggest they should be prosecuted for manslaughter.

I have to agree, it's much the same as if someone committed suicide as a result of a letter sent to them (a not so uncommon occurrence in the olden days) and we decided to blame and/or prosecute Royal Mail! The site operators merely offer a communication platform, they cannot be monitoring everything each and every user posts.

For one thing, it is based in Riga, Latvia (link) where English Law has never applied.

It may well be based there precisely to avoid legal action.

Still, perhaps that may help to expiate his guilt for not having kept a closer eye on what his daughter was doing.

At the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own actions, not the site owners. When it comes to minors, they are their parents' responsibility.

Did bullying in the schoolyard suddenly cease with the advent of Twatter and Prattbook? Did name calling in the street disappear overnight?

Why commit suicide because some dolt sends you a nasty message on a glorified transister radio? Does it have some mystic power? Or have teenagers lost their grip on reality and their parents completely abrogated their responsibility?

Being abused in cyberspace in not a pleasant experience, even for an adult - I've had a bit of experience with that side of things myself! For a teenager, it may well be devastating, especially if the girl in question came to rely on her online connections more than on people she knew in real life. It's not just a question of keeping an eye on the kids' computer activities, it's also a matter of making sure they have real world friends and acquaintances and are not living their whole lives online.

This can happen even to grown ups, and kids who spend their lives making friends and enemies in cyberspace may not develop the necessary skills to survive in the real world.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

My style of parenting was to try and 'think of it before he did'

So how might you have prevented him becoming a homosexualist?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Teenager Hannah Smith commits suicide after social-media taunts

Terms of use are governed by Latvian laws and disputes are solved in Latvian courts.

It may puzzle President Cameron to control what that site does.