Graham

Well said, Kitty.

This is just a typical "fear of the new" scare story. To claim that "the internet" killed this girl or that she would be alive if it wasn't for the net is hysterical nonsense and just part of our "shift the blame" culture.

It's always *someone else's* fault and now the net is a convenient scape goat which the tabloids can milk into circulation grabbing headlines.

Trying to censor the whole internet because of a relatively few tragic events would just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It gives us, the people, the most powerful tool we've ever had for freedom, yet many of those in power want to restrict it or regulate it. They claim they want to "protect us", but often it's their own backsides they're really protecting because they get panicked into needing to be seen to be "doing something"

Of course what really ends up happening is that they go for short-sighted knee-jerk regulation that will restrict the *legitimate* users whilst those who have an interest in using it for less salubrious purposes will simply find ways around the restrictions.

Any tool can be abused or misused, but banning it or regulating it will not stop this happening, the only solution is to *educate* people in ways to use it properly and safely and for them to learn how to *avoid* those who would abuse it.