Amanda Todd: The Power of the Internet

Anonymous is on the hunt - again.

The death of Amanda Todd came as quite a shock to me. Somehow my mind seems to remember having watched her video somewhere in between watching an overweight 12-year-old body slam his bully and a reply girl bouncing her tits around on YouTube. As I'm sure you're all aware by now, Amanda Todd committed suicide after a screenshot of her flashing to an anonymous internet user was used against her. It led to a string of blackmailing attempts before eventually being sent by this armchair murderer to her parents. After that she suffered nothing but trouble trying to pull her life back together. On 10th October 2012, she finally decided she could no longer take the pressure, depression and exclusion she'd suffered and regretfully committed suicide.

Amanda cannot be on her own, however. Go to Google Images right now, make sure "safe search" is turned off and type in "naked girl mirror shot." There's probably enough ex-girlfriends with B-cups to fuel the next 6 weeks of a 13-year-old boys free time. With the endless availability of young girls putting their trust - as well as genitals - into the internet, shouldn't we have seen this coming a long time ago?

Websites like JailbaitGalleries provide an endless stream of pictures of young girls, aged anywhere from 12+, posted by ex-boyfriends, perverts and the rest of society. Sites such as these are simply a breeding ground for anyone wanting a taste of revenge or the feel of power over another person. If just one person is found and their face is matched, who knows where it could lead to. Could Amanda  be the first of a string of victims?

Photos of Amanda Todd flashing became viral almost instantly after her death. She even became a meme when mock photos of her drinking bleech - in reference to her first suicide attempt which was unsuccessful - began circulating on sites such as 4chan with the typical, ever-so-quircky captions. But it didn't quite stop there. The creepy fucker who reportedly began all of this horror also managed to post via Twitter a still photo of her body naked in the morge where she will now undergo a post mortem exam. Uuuh!

Thank God, however: the police are here! No, not the real police. Your tax money isn't being put to use that well. I'm talking about Anonymous! Remember those guys/girls? They're the ones who exposed the governments of the world as corrupt empires and were slammed by the international media. But we all love them now because they found a paedophile. Funny how that works, right?

The guardians of our online rights have, reportedly, found the identity of the man - 34-year-old Kody Maxison and have posted his details, phone number and even his street address. Unsurprisingly, it also came to light that he was involved with the creation of a child pornography forum.

Not long after, Anonymous posted a video on YouTube with a message to Kody Maxison, who reportedly told the press "If anything, I was trying to help Amanda."

The world is now crying out for the Canadian authorities to get this sick bastard in front of a court whilst the real protectors clear things up online.

The authorities have already spoken about tightening controls on internet use in order to make sure another situation like Amanda's doesn't crop up again. Perhaps it would be best if people were taught how to use it rather than not given the chance. Amanda made a mistake which all girls should learn from. The power of the internet was sadly against her but will these remain just another story of a beloved girl or will we begin to see a change in the way we use the internet now its first "mirror girl" victim has appeared?

If Anonymous is true to its words, not forgiving or forgetting such an event is probably something we should've been prepared for a long time ago.

Written by Leon Kohlemann.