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Video Suicide Stirs Debate over Voyeuristic Nature of Internet

Nov 24th, 2008 • Posted in: News

Teen ingested lethal dose of medicine while others watched; while some notified authorities, others egged him on

PEMBROKE PINES, Florida
A Florida teenager killed himself on a live Internet broadcast last week, and press reports indicate that he may have been egged on by some viewers.

The incident, according to CNET reporter Greg Sandoval, “will undoubtedly raise questions about the power of Web video and whether it can go too far.”

Abraham Biggs, Jr., ingested a lethal cocktail of three different drugs and then continued to blog about it in a text-message area linked to his webcast, according to the Miami Herald. Some viewers, possibly reacting to previous online suicide threats made by Biggs, mocked him and encouraged him, says the Herald report.

But some, including the chat’s monitor, notified authorities, who broke down the door of Biggs’s residence, reports Wired.

As police prodded the teen to see if he was alive, viewers still hooked onto the feed posted online-jargon comments ranging from OMG (”Oh my God”) to LOL (”laughing out loud”).

Wired’s David Kravets reports: “Public suicides are common; people jump from bridges and buildings. But the phenomenon is now encroaching on to the global arena offered by the Internet. A British man suffered the same fate two years ago after being goaded to hang himself while in a webcam chatroom. And the net is also a known medium for organizing suicide pacts.”

Times of London technology reporter Murad Ahmed notes that the live-streaming site that screened the suicide, Justin.tv, has policies against running violent and inappropriate footage, but the fact that the service enables videos to be run live makes it difficult for the site to react quickly when such incidents occur.

Sources: Miami Herald, Nov. 21 — Times of London, Nov. 21 — Wired, Nov. 21 — CNET, Nov. 20.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 7 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 24 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 28 — Related Newsline Commentary, Dec. 3, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 3, 2007.

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1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Nonstop Coverage of Mumbai Attacks Prompts Criticism on December 8th, 2008 at 11:24 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 24 — Related Newsline Commentary, Nov. 24 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 24 [...]

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