-
Model Charlotte Dawson. - Source: Supplied -
Related
Kiwi model Charlotte Dawson has reportedly given an exclusive media interview hours after she was admitted to a psychiatric unit.
The Australia's Next Top Model judge gave an interview with Australia's 60 minutes yesterday afternoon, shortly after she was transferred to the Emergency Psychiatric Care Unit at St Vincent's Hospitals, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Dawson's agent, Kathy Ward from Chic Management, confirmed the interview had taken place.
"She was quite lucid. We thought about whether it was a good idea to do the interview, she wanted to do it. It was only short, a few minutes, talking about online bullying," Ward told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Dawson was admitted to hospital early yesterday morning after a row on Twitter escalated into a torrent of abuse.
She has received a raft of support from Australian celebrities and media figures who have taken to Twitter to show their compassion.
"Why can Twitter be so bitter and cruel? This Charlotte Dawson case is a disgrace. Words have consequences," tweeted Australian radio host Neil Mitchell.
A number of bloggers and columnists have also used Dawson's story to highlight the problem of internet bullying and are calling for Twitter and the Australian police to clamp down on abusers who operate under anonymous user names.
Many have had their own personal struggle with internet bullying.
Women's online magazine Mamamia described Dawson's experience as "eight hours of unrelenting abuse" in what was the latest chapter in days of cyber-bullying.
A spokesman for St Vincent's Hospital told News Ltd the 46-year-old star was expected to make a "full recovery" after emergency services were called to her home about 3am on Thursday.
A Foxtel spokeswoman said: "We have spoken with Charlotte's management and understand she is okay, but needs some peace and rest at this time."
Mendel said Facebook, Twitter and other social media should shut down pages and posts carrying offensive material.
"In terms of the platforms, Twitter, Facebook and other social media, they do have some degree of responsibility, particular when behaviours become endemic," he told AAP.
"Everyone has a joint responsibility.
"Individuals themselves, who are victims of cyber-bullying, have the responsibility to report it and it's incumbent on Facebook and Twitter to shut down those pages or remove posts."
Australian social media commentator Laurel Papworth also posted her thoughts on Thursday, saying: "Charlotte Dawson has made a career of slagging off all and sundry and using her broadcasting power to bully others, calling critics bogans and scrags. There's more to this story than `woe is me'.
"And while I'm sorry that Charlotte Dawson has let this drama affect her (we are responsible for when and how we are offended), I think we need to look a little closer at what happens when we meet trolls online," said Papworth.
The cyber-bullying of Dawson began when a Melbourne woman, Tanya Heti, tweeted comments referencing suicide.
The Sydney-based TV star had described her native New Zealand as "small, nasty and vindictive".
Dawson confronted Heti about abusive posts directed at her.
After Dawson, who is an ambassador for the Australian anti-bullying programme Community Brave, appeared on Nine Network's A Current Affair on Wednesday night, the cyber-bullying directed at her snowballed.
Twitter "trolls" unleashed more than 100 messages of abuse, many of which included four-letter words in comments such as "please put your face in a toaster".
Mendel said Facebook and Twitter needed to respond to any complaints or moderate their sites in real time, similar to the way problems are handled at online gaming sites.
"They need a 24-hour moderating service to resolve these things as people can get bombarded by this stuff."