A cellphone, a pair of shoes and a death note that say “I’m really sorry mom” were all that left of a 15-year-old girl in Vietnam, left on the bank of a pond where she allegedly drowned herself 2 days after somebody posted on social media a video of her kissing her boyfriend.

Her death sent a shockwave across her family, friends, school, and the nation itself. It drew public attention to an issue that has become increasingly haunting in Vietnam with the rise in popularity of social media – cyberbullying.

That was not the first victim of online harassment in the southeast Asian country though. In 2015, a female high school student killed herself with Seduxen (a heavy type of sleeping pills) after footage of intimate moments between her and two male students was posted on social media, drawing toxic comments attacking the girl’s decency. Additionally, Seduxen was also what another female high school graduate in Hanoi used to end her life in 2013 when one of her portraits was edited into the body of a naked woman and shared online. In 2016, a male high school student hanged himself out of shame from being beaten and forced to kneel by a gang of youths, which was captured in a clip that went viral on social media. At a conference last November, minister of Information and Communications of Vietnam revealed a shocking figure, six cases of youth suicides in Vietnam over the last year were directly related to social media bullying and harassment, which raises a big question for everyone, how many more deaths will it take for real change to happen in Vietnam?

From a legal perspective, sharing images and information of other people without their consent is an infringement upon inviolability of personal privacy and secrecy, which can lead to lawsuits. However, this is not widely acknowledged by Vietnamese people, especially the youth. Therefore, this should be a wakeup call for those in Vietnam who are still using social media without any proper knowledge of the legal consequences of their actions. An expert from the Center for Community Support Development Studies in Vietnam believes that the attraction of social media lies in the fact that it gives one a stage to perform, and it is easy for a mob to demonize its target, as they always stand and judge from afar without putting themselves in the shoes of their victim to look at things from a different perspective.

Oftentimes, victims of cyberbullying are left in despair long after the mob has moved on to another target, and their coping mechanism is to remain silent. Hence, government, educators and parents should strive to change the situation for the better before the circumstance worsen.

Bibliography

Hai, H., Michael, D., Marilyn, C., Michelle, G., Nguyen, H., & Tran, N. (2017). Temporal patterns and predictors of bullying roles. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 107-121.

Vo, T. (2016). Cyberbullying in Vietnam: Should we blame for Facebook? Retrieved from Digital thoughts: https://dtrangvo.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/cyberbullying-in-vietnam-should-we-blame-for-facebook/