When news broke that a 19-year-old committed suicide after being sexually abused and bullied by her Facebook lover, the country was outraged. Cyber bullying had claimed yet another victim. NEWSPOT254 takes a close look at local celebrities who have gone through it and spoken out.
It takes a different kind of courage to stand tall in the face of malicious, targeted and constant criticism, and not many can claim to have it. From abusive text messages to personal insults on Twitter and Facebook,
cyber-bullying is on the rise. The latest victim? Nineteen-year-old Mercy Bundi.
We live in a culture of digital cruelty that no one is immune to. Whether you are a celebrity, the child of a public figure or the common mwananchi. Anyone can be a target.
However, celebrities are usually on the receiving end of vicious cyber bullying. And while some of them bury their heads in the sand and wait for it to blow over, others speak up. And like some of these celebrities, we should also take a stand.
Juliana Kanyomozi
Losing a loved one, more so a child is one the most heartbreaking experience anyone can go through
but many people did not think of this while attacking the beautiful songstress as she was mourning her son
last year. Instead of sympathising with the Ugandan songbird, social media users tore her down even more
by insulting and calling her offensive names.
Adelle Onyango
The radio presenter is no stranger to cyber bullying making her develop quite the thick skin. Sometime back, a social media user compared her to a monkey. Adelle used the opportunity to encourage others who might be going through the same. Posting the photoshopped meme showing the rude and insulting juxtaposition
of a monkey next to her, Adelle had this to say: “Bumped into this in my mentions. Ever since my first stint
with cyber bullying and being involved in the Inua Dada campaign handling bullying and its effects, I have done a lot of reading on it. Seeing the number of suicides linked to bullying broke my heart. Your memes/tweets etc could be the last nail in someone’s coffin…you ready to live with that? And #teamadelle y’all are young people some of whom are being bullied now…it is not a reflection of your character
or your beauty - no. But a reflection of the bully’s damaged character! I hope these words do something for you! Keep smiling!”
We hoped we’d heard the last of this tale, but another cyber bully targeted the presenter. Adelle confronted her saying that “she does not subscribe to her definition of beauty.”
Larry Madowo
The TV personality is no stranger to cyber bullets. He has been attacked mercilessly on countless occasions
on social media. Outrageous memes of the presenter have circulated online punctuated by disturbing captions.
Having had his fair share of online abuse and humiliation, Larry penned an unapologetic tell off article directed to online bullies. “Anybody who engages in cyberbullying is really just trying to cover up their own feelings of inadequacy and disillusionment with life,” he wrote in the September 2014 article.
Linda Nyangweso
After a photo of the bubbly radio presenter found its way to Twitter, a section of Kenyans on Twitter saw this as the perfect opportunity to attack the presenter over her weight. Here’s what she said; “OMG.Woke up this morning to realise people have discovered my secret: I’M FAT!!*#brushshoulder*#whatsnew
#livingmylifelikeitsgolde! LOL”
Linda went ahead to add that her “being a big girl isn’t exactly news let alone Kenya’s best kept secret.”
Janet Mbugua
The screen siren was trolled for being on screen while pregnant. The news anchor was bewildered when
she found herself in the midst of an Internet storm. One guy sent her a vicious tweet aimed at gnawing the sassy presenter’s self esteem. He tweeted , “Just wondering why Janet Mbugua must newscast in that condition. Never seen it before on Kenyan TV but I think it’s gross.”
Being human, Janet was rattled by the comment and cited being hurt. “I had sat in my car and was about
to turn on the ignition but the tweet stopped me dead in my tracks. I usually pay no mind to people trolling
me, that will always be there, but this was an insult to every expectant mother and I was deeply offended by
his ignorance, bullying and insensitivity…” she wrote on a blog post.
Janet was not to take this one sitting, so she slammed the trolls while simultaneously receiving outpouring support from a legion of social media followers.
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