RIP Abraham K Biggs - internet suicide

Janice Turner: When hatred comes to your homepage

I am not shocked by the death of 19-year-old Abraham K Biggs live on video streaming site justin.tv. I am not shocked by the reports of other chat room users encouraging him to get on with it. I AM sad that there are people out there stupid enough to think that goading someone who is obviously vulnerable is a fun thing to do. A trawl through the chat rooms of the internet reveals human nature sometimes at its most base.
On the positive side, some of those watching Abraham die did want to do something and did go to some lengths to contact the police.
Were those watching responsible for his death? No. Abraham was responsible for his own death. Should the viewers be prosecuted? It is difficult to see how this could be achieved and to what end. Should something be done about live streaming, chat rooms and the like? Emphatically no.
The internet has revolutionised the way world communicates with itself and has brought people and communities together in thousands of good ways. But the enabling light that the internet shines on relationships also illuminates the dark side of human behaviour. This is what has happened here.