# My kid put something bad on the internet...censor the internet NOW! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270 "2008-11-24T17:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9adbd/32.png) [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fell_through_the_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/21 "2008-11-24T20:11:14Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Actually, the ‘egging on’ supposedly _did_ happen, just not on the body building site. According to some of the people who posted in the actual thread the day it happen (the one Biggs started himself), there was plenty of trash talking encouraging him on in the IRC chat that ran simultaneously with his webcam on [justin.tv](http://justin.tv). > > If you’d like to check it out, you can get to what I’m talking about by Googling the thread title, plus each page number, and then accessing the cache. Yes, but it’s my understanding that Biggs was already passed out on the bed before he had a chance to actually read any of these comments. You can’t be “egged on” if you aren’t even aware of the “egging”. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/22 "2008-11-24T20:13:54Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Um, I don’t really see how that’s relevant. Um, it was just a fucking question. Relax. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/23 "2008-11-24T20:17:27Z")
> [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](#): > > Yes, but it’s my understanding that Biggs was already passed out on the bed before he had a chance to actually read any of these comments. You can’t be “egged on” if you aren’t even aware of the “egging”. That was only true for the thread he’d started on the message board. Apparently though, there was plenty of this type of conversation, _including him_, going on in chat, all before he completely passed out. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/24 "2008-11-24T20:24:28Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Blame Canada! Very well then, ahem: [shaking fist] Damn you Canada! First Ryan Stiles, now _this_?! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/25 "2008-11-24T20:28:52Z")
Long before the internet onlookers would cry “Jump! Jump” to people on high ledges threatening suicide. This has nothing at all to do with the nasty internets, it has to do with human behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9adbd/32.png) [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fell_through_the_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/26 "2008-11-24T20:30:50Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > That was only true for the thread he’d started on the message board. Apparently though, there was plenty of this type of conversation, _including him_, going on in chat, all before he completely passed out. Is there a transcript of that (the [justin.tv](http://justin.tv) chatlog) anywhere? I have read most of the [bb.com](http://bb.com) thread, but have only seen a screenshot of the justintv chatlog during the SWAT team breakin. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/27 "2008-11-24T20:40:30Z")
Exactly. He still would have killed himself without the internet. He just wouldn’t have had an audience. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/28 "2008-11-24T20:47:01Z")
> [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](#): > > Is there a transcript of that (the [justin.tv](http://justin.tv) chatlog) anywhere? I have read most of the [bb.com](http://bb.com) thread, but have only seen a screenshot of the justintv chatlog during the SWAT team breakin. None that I’ve found. Many of the members there alluded to it being pulled along with the archive of his webcam, which is understandable. I just read several references to it in the bazillion threads there on the subject. Also, for a while, the screenshot you mention was linked to the actual (all be it brief, thankfully) footage. It was quite sobering, as has been the entire thing. Sorry I’m not more help. ---
**Author:** ![Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9adbd/32.png) [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fell_through_the_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/29 "2008-11-24T21:24:48Z")
> [@Captain\_Socks](#): > > Exactly. He still would have killed himself without the internet. He just wouldn’t have had an audience. Y’know, I’ve never had a webcam, but I imagine it would give a feeling of somehow being more connected, that people were, kinda, in a way in the room with him. Maybe he just wanted to feel like he wasn’t totally “alone” as he drifted off…he sure wasn’t interested in chatting or “attention-whoring”, it was rather methodical. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/30 "2008-11-24T21:34:37Z")
I don’t want to seem like a complete callous bastard, but if his organs can’t even be harvested( it’s unlikely he had a donor card, d’ya think?), what an absolute waste of a young life. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/31 "2008-11-24T22:10:25Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Long before the internet onlookers would cry “Jump! Jump” to people on high ledges threatening suicide. This has nothing at all to do with the nasty internets, it has to do with human behaviour. Yup. Humans don’t care a lot about people outside of their [monkeysphere](http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html), and that is just a fact of human psychology/physiology. Sure, I can make noises about how dead kids in Darfur is a crime and it’s horrible and all, but it doesn’t really mean anything to me because I don’t know them. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/32 "2008-11-24T22:14:51Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It’s still pretty douchey of people to encourage someone (even if they don’t know him) to commit suicide. The more I know about people, the more I hate them. You’ll be happier adopting my world view: **There are no good or bad people. They are all evil, but some are on my side.** Less disapointment that way. Cynical of course. But I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than betrayed. ---
**Author:** ![Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9adbd/32.png) [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fell_through_the_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/33 "2008-11-24T22:46:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*“There seems to be a lack of control as to **what people put out on the Interne** t,” he said. OK, I understand that in grief, people say stupid things. But, yeah…huh? Your son posts a really awful thing on the internet and you’re railing against…awful shit that people put on the internet? Then blaming it on, who? What? 😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/34 "2008-11-24T22:47:48Z")
He can control the Internet. I told you he was hardcore! ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/35 "2008-11-24T23:51:47Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Yup. Humans don’t care a lot about people outside of their [monkeysphere](http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html), and that is just a fact of human psychology/physiology. Sure, I can make noises about how dead kids in Darfur is a crime and it’s horrible and all, but it doesn’t really mean anything to me because I don’t know them. Personally, I feel that there is a difference between the mere indifference of not caring about the deaths in Darfur and the active cruelty of encouraging someone to commit suicide. I think some people harbor hostility towards the suicidal because they tend to think of them as “Attention Seekers”, selfish, or weak for not being able to “snap out of it”. I think those beliefs are where the mean-spirited taunting behavior really comes from. As for this dad, people who are grieving often have anger that they need to vent. Sometimes they get angry at the dead person, and sometimes they vent it at others who really may not have anything to do with the tragedy. There are few things in life as heart-breaking as being a parent and then having to bury your child. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/36 "2008-11-25T04:11:12Z")
> [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](#): > > Um, it’s a direct quote from the father…who lived in the same town as his son. They were not in 2 different timezones. :rolleyes: My apologies, [Justin.tv](http://Justin.tv) is based in San Francisco and I misread that the son was located there as well. So, any cite that the father is calling for teh end of teh interwebs? Or even having [Justin.tv](http://Justin.tv) shutdown? Or do you just like pouncing on any word a father whose son just killed himself says and making straw men out of them? It’s pretty obvious how the father could see his son’s suicide as having been egged on, even if in the night in question he had pulled the trigger so to speak to the point that he wasn’t even reading anyone’s comments. The guy was obviously disturbed to the point that the reaction to him saying he was going to kill himself was met with calls to just do it already, since he had ‘trolled’ on it before. Not that I imagine the comments on the first time he said it was much different. You know, none of us are as cruel as all of us. So in closing, 1) the father hasn’t said jack shit about censoring the internet, and 2) let’s hope a loved one of yours doesn’t kill themselves in some kind of spotlight and see what kind of painful grief stricken things you say don’t get splayed all over the world for people to ruminate about and make rolleyeyes at. Oh and just to press the matter since this is the whole point of the thread, where again did the father call for censoring the internet? ---
**Author:** ![Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9adbd/32.png) [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fell_through_the_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/37 "2008-11-25T04:29:19Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > So, any cite that the father is calling for teh end of teh interwebs? Or even having [Justin.tv](http://Justin.tv) shutdown? … So in closing, 1) the father hasn’t said jack shit about censoring the internet, and …where again did the father call for censoring the internet? [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6314787](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6314787) Quotes from above link: _“Father ‘appalled’ by virtual audience to son’s webcam suicide, **calls for Internet regulation** ”_ _The father … called for tougher **regulation of Internet sites.** _ _“I think after this incident and probably other incidents that have occurred in the past, they all point to some kind of **regulation is necessary** ”_ Got it now? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/38 "2008-11-25T05:03:30Z")
> [@Fell\_through\_the\_Ice](#): > > [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6314787](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6314787) > > Quotes from above link: > > _“Father ‘appalled’ by virtual audience to son’s webcam suicide, **calls for Internet regulation** ”_ > > _The father … called for tougher **regulation of Internet sites.** _ > > _“I think after this incident and probably other incidents that have occurred in the past, they all point to some kind of **regulation is necessary** ”_ > > Got it now? Call me back when the father has started some actual regulatory action and it isn’t just newshounds looking for a story. Really, you don’t get how a grieving father can lash out and how news networks lap this shit up and print anything he says? Where again has he lead the campaign to have [justin.tv](http://justin.tv) banned? Or any campaign to censor the internet? Got it now? It’s a fucking news story. Throwing hate at the father is just way out of line. Honestly, have you never lost a loved one? Now imagine that you’re being hounded by the media in your grief for a quote on what it means to the newsreaders. He lost his son 3 days ago, and I doubt he wanted to become some sort of internet meme. Seriously, if the father leads some actual campaign to shut websites down, call me and I’ll be all against it. Making rolleyeyes and getting worked up at his grieving comments is pretty fucked up. He hasn’t as much as called for [justin.tv](http://justin.tv) to be shut down. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/39 "2008-11-25T06:51:08Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Personally, I feel that there is a difference between the mere indifference of not caring about the deaths in Darfur and the active cruelty of encouraging someone to commit suicide. I think some people harbor hostility towards the suicidal because they tend to think of them as “Attention Seekers”, selfish, or weak for not being able to “snap out of it”. I think those beliefs are where the mean-spirited taunting behavior really comes from. \ But people encouraging someone they don’t know to commit suicide aren’t engaging in cruelty - they don’t know this stranger, and they don’t care about them. Sure, in the abstract we should all aspire to better behaviour than that, but the person being encouraged by people they don’t know can also say, “I don’t know these people, and they don’t know me - I have no reason to care what they say.” ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270/40 "2008-11-25T07:21:53Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > But people encouraging someone they don’t know to commit suicide aren’t engaging in cruelty - they don’t know this stranger, and they don’t care about them. Sure, in the abstract we should all aspire to better behaviour than that, but the person being encouraged by people they don’t know can also say, “I don’t know these people, and they don’t know me - I have no reason to care what they say.” That view makes no sense. The lack of emotional connection to the person you’re encouraging to commit suicide does not somehow make your act any less cruel – it just makes it easier for you to do. ETA: The alternative is sociopathy. You don’t care about Darfur at an emotional level – but you can still think the situation needs to be helped and lobby for that to happen. You don’t know the people you pass on the street –you don’t trip them, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kid-put-something-bad-on-the-internet-censor-the-internet-now/474270.md?page=3)