Coroner calls for "insult chats" to be banned

A coroner has called for "insult chats" to be banned following the suicide of Kevin Whitrick, 42 in March. He took his own life while on webcam to people in a "friendly insults" chatroom, urged on by some of the occupants. (Source - https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/6993095.stm )

I personally think that this is sick. Watching a man take his life is horrible, urging him on his grotesquely sadistic. Far too many people think that insulting someone over the internet will bear no consequence, when in reality an insult over the internet can be just as hurtful as on from someone in real life. I get tired of people insulting each other for no reason, over nothing. Two of my friends left their Modern Studies class in tears after being constantly taunted by other girls. The only reason was that they are goths. These "insult chats" should never have existed in the first place, even if they were meant to be for fun.

I heard about this, didnt read the link. There are some real mean harsh bastards out there on the net and seriously some of the live messenger conversations that teens have are just nasty.

There are anti bullying sites where people who feel victimised on the net can go and actually something can be done about it.

We never take a suicide threat lightly here and any kind of taunting would be strongly dealt with.

That is sick

There are people like that everywhere, its just the internet gives them that little extra bit of detachment so the pussy arsed d***heads dont have to feel so guilty about it... exactly the same as internet trolls, detachment from reality gives them bigger balls than they could even dream about in real life

No, insult chatrooms should not be banned.

The majority of "normal" chatrooms and forum sites are moderated to protect against bullying, you can report someone and they'll be dealt with. If you're on a site with few or no rules against bullying, then you still have an option - leave the site.

If you're on a site where people are urged to insult each other, then well, you knew what to expect. I highly doubt this person hanged themselves purely because of the site. He was going to do it anyway.

Some people enjoy being insulted, and these sites are for them.

Sure, it's sick that some people egged him on to this. Yes what they did is wrong and immoral. But it's not the site's fault, and it's not a reason to ban these sites.

While that is true, you know the mentality of the people calling for the banning of the site is that if they bad the sites it wont happen again, if something else crops up they will ban that too, it will never happen again and we all live happily ever after.

There will always be someone wanting something banned.

Coroner calls for letter writing to be banned. Area man commits suicide after receiving insulting letter.

Policeman calls for social interaction to be banned. Area man commits suicide after being insulted at the pub.

Wife calls for telephones to be banned. Area man commits suicide after receiving phone call telling him to "f*** off and die".

See how ridiculous they all sound? And yet we're quick to call for bans to be levied against internet sites used by pricks to send insulting messages.

And they all lived happily ever after, with highly compromised civil liberties in a totalitarian state with censored media and a complete disregard for freedom of speech....

Exactly, I never understood how so many people would listen to the word of one person, it is after all just an opinion

I imagine that it's illegal to actively encourage someone to commit a violent crime, so the people who encouraged him could be prosecuted for that.

There is no basis for outlawing these types of chatrooms, though.