Monica Lewinsky says she was first cyber-bullying victim

NEW YORK -- Monica Lewinsky said she was one of the first victims of cyber-bullying, becoming "Patient Zero" after falling in love with Bill Clinton, as the former White House intern gave her first speech in 13 years on Monday.

In an emotional address at Forbes' inaugural Under 30 summit in Philadelphia that recalled the 1998 sex scandal with Clinton, the 41-year-old brunette announced a campaign to end online bullying.

Lewinsky told a packed auditorium that she was "the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet."

"I was Patient Zero," she said.

"There was no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram back then. But there were gossip, news and entertainment websites replete with comment sections and emails which could be forwarded.

"Of course, it was all done on the excruciatingly slow dial up. Yet around the world this story went. A viral phenomenon that, you could argue, was the first moment of truly 'social media.'"

She spoke of her shame and depression and of harboring suicidal thoughts after news of the 1998 sex scandal broke.

"Staring at the computer screen, I spent the day shouting: 'oh my god!' and 'I can't believe they put that in' or 'That's so out of context,'" she said. "And those were the only thoughts that interrupted a relentless mantra in my head: 'I want to die.'"

She said she was motivated to campaign against cyber-bullying by the 2010 suicide of an 18-year-old New Jersey freshman who was haunted online after being secretly filmed kissing another man.

"Having survived myself, what I want to do now is help other victims of the shame game survive, too," she said. "I want to put my suffering to good use and give purpose to my past."

Lewinsky also joined Twitter, describing herself on her @MonicaLewinsky profile as a social activist, public speaker, contributor to Vanity Fair magazine and a "knitter of things without sleeves."

Within hours she racked up more than 18,000 followers for an account verified by the microblogging service.

Her first tweet was "#HereWeGo" and her second said she was "excited (and nervous) to speak" at the Forbes Under 30 Summit.




Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai is scheduled to speak at the same event on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Lewinsky broke her silence about her affair with Clinton, in a piece for Vanity Fair.

"I am determined to have a different ending to my story. I've decided, finally, to stick my head above the parapet so that I can take back my narrative and give a purpose to my past," she wrote.

After news of the affair broke, Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998 but was acquitted by the Senate.

His wife Hillary, a former secretary of state widely tipped to run for president in 2016, says she has "moved on" from the scandal.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Twitter hit by cyber attack, 250,000 users affected

SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter said Friday it had been hit by a "sophisticated" cyber attack similar to those that recently hit major Western news outlets, and that the passwords of about 250,000 users were stolen.

"This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident," Twitter information security director Bob Lord said in a blog post.

Lord referred to an "uptick in large-scale security attacks aimed at US technology and media companies" as he told of Twitter detecting attempts this week to get unauthorized access to data in the firm's network.

The attack coincided with the revelation of several high-profile security breaches. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal said this week that they had been hacked, and pointed to hackers from China.

Twitter did not confirm the source of the intrusion.

But Lord noted that "the attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked."

He said that Twitter shut down a live attack as it was in process.

However, Lord added, cyber attackers may have gotten usernames, email addresses, passwords and other data.

As a precaution, Twitter invalidated passwords of accounts at issue and sent people email messages telling them to create new passwords.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Charice, Cheesa speak out against bullying

LOS ANGELES – Recording artists Charice and Cheesa get emotional whenever they sing their duet “I’m Not Perfect”. The song talks about a girl’s struggle to keep believing in herself despite being attacked by bullies.

The song is based on their personal experiences, having both been the target of people they say “looked down” on their talent and physical appearance.


Cheesa, a semi-finalist of the NBC hit talent show “The Voice,” and her brother Troy, the musical director of Charice, co-wrote the song “I’m Not Perfect”.

“Not only was I bullied when I was little, it came out again when I was on the show through social media,” Cheesa said.

Charice was only seven years old when she first experienced bullying. To this day, she claims that in spite of her international success in the music industry, she’s still assailed by haters.

“Minsan grabe talaga ang ginagawa ng mga tao sa akin, sa amin. Nasasaktan ako kasi kumbaga parang gusto ko lang din sabihin sa kanila na, kung ibabalik ko lahat sa ‘yo yung mga sinasabi mo sa akin, gusto kong ma-feel mo yung na-fee-feel ko. But, at the same time, I don’t want to do that,” she said.

Through the song’s positive message, Charice and Cheesa want to give hope to other victims of bullying. They also wish to inspire the bullies to change.

The two artists will sing “I’m Not Perfect” at a benefit show in Hawaii this November. Part of the proceeds of the concert will go to the children being helped by ABS CBN Foundation’s Bantay Bata.

source: abs-cbnnews.com