Monica Lewinsky has delivered a powerful speech about the devastating effects of online harassment, describing herself as "patient zero" of cyberbullying and pleading for more compassion on the internet.
The former White House intern, whose love affair with President Bill Clinton made headlines around the world in 1998, began her speech at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference by joking she was the only 40-something who did not wish to be 22 again, the BBC reported.
Lewinsky said that at the age of 22, she fell in love with her boss and at the age of 24, she learned the devastating consequences, adding that the internet had made her own personal humiliation far worse.
Lewinsky noted that in 1998, when the scandal broke online, it was one of the first times that the traditional news had been usurped by the internet for a major news story and she went from being a private figure to being a publicly humiliated one worldwide. There were mobs of virtual stone-throwers.
Lewinsky, who was branded a tart, a slut, a whore, a bimbo and lost her reputation, dignity and almost lost her life, added that seventeen years ago there was no name for it but now people call it cyberbullying or online harassment.
Lewinsky told the story of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, who was a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey when his roommate set up a webcam and captured video of him in bed with another man. The resulting online harassment led Clementi to suicide, jumping from the George Washington Bridge.
She said that Clementi's tragic, senseless death was a turning point for her as it served to re-contextualise her experiences, adding that every day online, people are so abused and humiliated that they can't imagine living to the next day and some don't.
That, she said, was unacceptable. She urged people to post a positive comment, adding "imagine walking a mile in someone else's headline." Technology had extended the echo of embarrassment.
Lewinsky ended her talk on a personal note, saying it was time to stop tip-toeing around her past, it was time to take back her narrative and let others know that they can survive it.
