Hate mobs thrive in Asia's booming social media

BANGKOK — A teenager involved in a car crash that killed nine people in Thailand deserves "no happiness forever", according to just one of more than 300,000 Facebook users who support a page set up to condemn her."Only your death is worthwhile for what you have done," said an angry post on the site. "Are you still a human?" asked another. One of the members of the cyber hate campaign threatened to rape the youngster if he saw her.The 16-year-old girl, from a wealthy Thai family, faces charges of reckless driving resulting in death and driving without a licence, after her car crashed with a public minibus on a Bangkok tollway last month.Soon afterwards a photo emerged that appeared to show the girl leaning on a roadside barrier, calmly using a BlackBerry smartphone, having escaped serious injury.She was quickly accused in Internet forums of idly chatting to friends as victims lay dying nearby, which her family denied.Her photos and contact details were posted online and she reportedly received death threats.While the exact circumstances of the crash are unclear, the outrage unleashed on Facebook, Twitter and other websites has highlighted the murky phenomenon of cyber "hate mobs" on popular social networking sites.Behind this trend is what is known as "Internet disinhibition", said Adrian Skinner, a clinical psychologist in Britain who has researched behavioural differences on the web."It's now well established that some people can behave in a much less inhibited way on the Internet, and the primary reason is that they feel there's no return, no comeback," he told AFP.He explained this "lowered sense of responsibility" was coupled with the fact that writing online involved much less effort than taking to the streets in a revenge-seeking crowd -- a more likely option in the pre-Internet age."A mob can form much more easily because of electronic communication," he said. "It's much easier for this phenomenon of an 'e-mob' to grow."Membership of Facebook in Thailand more than doubled last year and now stands a

Add comment

Nick
Content

Submit