Outing the trolls, bullies, and pedophiles

Amanda Todd
It’s been quite a week for those amongst us who thrive dwelling in the Internets toiletbowl. A week that saw trolls outed, bullies identified and arrested, and pedophiles busted. All this comes in the wake of anger over the suicide of bullied and tormented teenager Amanda Todd. It should, but doubtfully will, give second thought to those believing they are anonymous online and that their actions will have no consequences.

Todd posted her video, My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm because it was her hope “to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong.” Amanda’s death came just weeks after she had posted the video detailing her struggle with suicidal feelings and depression after being ostracized at school and tormented on Facebook when a stalker began distributing topless pictures of her online. Police are currently trying to pinpoint what may have caused the teenager to finally take her own life.

“We are looking at tracking down the individual who had contact with her [shortly before her death] and may have played a role in her making that tragic decision,” states Sgt. Peter Thiessen, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Sadly like most teen suicides the help they should have had all along comes years to late. The Mounties dedicated a 20-25 man team on the Todd case to do what Anonymous did in a few days for free. Why the police didn’t think it was important to do something sooner isn’t a good indication of how serious this type of thing is taken. Hopefully that is starting to change as people become more outraged and outspoken over it.

Christine Claveau was looking at a site when she saw what she thought was a particularly hateful anonymous post directed at Todds death. She said the comment read, “It’s about time this bitch died.” Claveau said she tracked down the identity of the sender in Toronto and forwarded a note to his employer, the retail store Mr. Big and Tall.

In an exclusive interview with the Toronto Star, the man, Justin Hutchings, said he was curious and wanted to “stir up the pot.

It was more or less a social experiment than anything. Just to see if I could put the most blasphemous thing on there,” he said. That’s all 1984 doublespeak for “I’m a thoughtless pig and have no defence at all for what I did.” Sitting alone at night in from of a monitor can really have an impact on your life if you don’t think twice before hitting that submit button.

Facebook Trolls

Claveau said so-called “internet trolls” must be held accountable for what they say and do online. She said she’s more encouraged than ever now to monitor the internet and “out” those behind hateful statements and has started a group of concerned moms who plan to continue alerting authorities to cyberbullying taking place online.

Michael Brutsch
Speaking of trolls it wasn’t a good week for self-proclaimed ‘The Biggest Troll on the Web’ Michael Brutsch. He was tracked down and outed by Gawker Adrian Chen. Chen tracked him down after becoming aware that Brutsch, or Violentacrez as he called himself, created a section on Reddit called “Jailbait” and dedicated it to sexualized images of underaged girls. In her article Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web Chen says Brutsch asked her repeatedly if there was anything he could do to keep her from outing him. She did, he lost his job, and Reddit is pissed off his privacy was violated while completely ignoring the fact that he never hesitated for a second to violate the privacy expectations of underage girls. The door swings both ways.

Of course you’d never want to be wrong when you out someone for being a troll or pedo. Anonymous took social media by storm last week by posting the personal information about a British Columbia man, alleging he was the one who blackmailed Amanda Todd. That man is facing charges in B.C. stemming from an August incident of alleged sexual assault against a victim under 16 and claimed he was a friend of Todds. The RCMP has cleared that man but it would be a stretch to think a grown man contacts a 15 year old girl out of friendship like he claimed he did with Todd. Predators choose victims they think are weak.

Anonymous now believes this is the man that tormented Amanda Todd.

Links for Outing Trolls, bullies, and pedophiles

AnonNews – Everything Anonymous
R.I.P. Amanda Todd
bullying.org
Bullying Canada
Stop a Bully

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4 thoughts on “Outing the trolls, bullies, and pedophiles

  1. Well said Glen. Although I would hate to be wrong and think there’s a fine line between bully’s and bullying bullies something needs t one done.

  2. The should be charged! Disappointing that so many people get bullied in school and it’s not even a crime. If I treated someone in my workplace like this I’d be fired and arrested but we expect kids to just live with it.

  3. Brutsch looks like troll lol. I wonder if he would have given in to someone asking him not to post something.

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