By now, the world is aware of Amanda Todd. The 15-year-old committed suicide after struggling with depression and being bullied. It was an unfortunate event that could have been avoided if more people had seen the warning signs and stepped in. Anonymous thinks that Todd’s case was special, however, and has tracked down the man they feel is responsible for her death.
Anonymous is usually found targeting governments or corporations, but the group has recently turned to targeting online predators and pedophiles. The group posted a dox to pastebin yesterday that reveals the identity and address of who they claim extorted Todd for nude photographs. Those photographs were eventually leaked online, and Todd was soon subjected to bullying from the dark corners of the Internet.
The bullying is most likely the main contributor to Todd’s death, but the original extortionist is the real villain in the eyes of Anonymous. The group issued a statement to CTV News after the network tracked down the alleged bully with the information provided:
“We generally don’t like to deal with police first hand but were compelled to put our skills to good use protecting kids. Ironically we have some good people in Vancouver who brought this to our admin’s attention. It’s a very sad story that affects all of us.”
As for the man accused by Anonymous for bullying Todd, he told CTV News that he knew Todd and thought of her as a friend. He also told the news network that he’s already cooperated with the Mounties by identifying a man who was harassing Todd.
Anonymous can, and will, get things wrong. We can’t speak on the innocence or guilt of any person until formal charges are made. The investigation into Todd’s suicide is still ongoing with the Royal Mounties looking into any and all leads. For their part, Anonymous has started #OpRIP to hunt down those who bullied Todd.
[h/t: Huffington Post]