The online bullying of TV presenter Charlotte Dawson and the subsequent calls for an end to online anonymity was the topic for my spot on Phil Dobbie’s Balls Radio last night.
And as usual, the conversation wandered to other matters as well.
Here’s the audio of my segment. If you’d like more, Mr Dobbie has posted the full episode.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:25 — 8.4MB)
You can of course hear us talk live every Tuesday night from 7pm AEST on Sydney’s FM 99.3 Northside Radio.
I’m fairly sure that copyright remains with Mr Dobbie rather than being transferred to Northside Radio, but I’ll figure that out later.
Hi mate,
just got around to listening to this, but wanted to say really enjoyed the commentary on this one. I know it’s a week old, but finally got some time tonight.
Made more sense then some of the other stuff that’s out there. Once again well done. Really glad you started with and respected that suicide is a big issue here in AUS.
Found myself in agreement with all your points (both of you) about the topic, even though having a close connection with this case in particular. Enjoyed the jovial banter too!
Cheers,
Rami Mandow.
@Rami Mandow: Thanks. It’s a timeless issue, so a “delay” of a week is no big deal.
What frustrates me most is the knee-jerk reaction to this and more recent bullying incidents in the news by politicians. They should know better. They probably do know better. But they’re such cowards that they dare not ignore the news cycle and the tabloid bleating, which means they end up being puppets.
yep with you on that one.
The witch hunts or claims to witch hunting have to stop, as do the threats to put them in ‘handcuffs’. Whilst I totally think some of the shit people say online deserves a lifetime ban from accessing the net (as it can be really really nasty and awful), I don’t think making threats would resolve this.
This was the perfect opportunity for politicians to work together to define what bullying & online bullying is more clearly, possibly use this to nationalise Brodie’s Law and then have firmer legs to stand on before making such polarising claims. Too much shades of grey in an unregulated space at the moment.
Le sigh.
@Rami Mandow: Except it’s not an “unregulated space”. Online services are three decades old now and, as John Birmingham points out today, it’s already an offence under section 474.17 of the Commonwealth criminal code, punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, of using a carriage service in a way that a reasonable person would consider “menacing, harassing or offensive”.
I have no idea what “Brodie’s Law” is. I don’t watch tabloid TV so I don’t know the tabloid TV names for things.