Monica Lewinsky has made a speech at the Ted conference, calling for a more compassionate internet. Lewinsky, who found herself embroiled in a sex scandal with Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, used her speech at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference said that the internet had created a culture where online bullying was rife. Her speech was met with a standing ovation.
Lewinsky exited the public sphere in 2005, with the Ted appearance marking her second public speech in ten years. She also appeared at the Forbes’ Under 30 Summit last October. Speaking about the famous scandal, she said: “At the age of 22, I fell in love with my boss. At the age of 24, I learned the devastating consequences”, also saying that the internet had amplified her humiliation.
Lewinsky said the original story marked “one of the first times that the traditional news had been usurped by the internet for a major news story”. Images of her went viral as the scandal broke, as did lewd jokes about the events. Speaking of “mobs of virtual stone-throwers”, she said she was “branded a tart, a slut, a whore, a bimbo”, losing her reputation and dignity and almost her life.
The former White House intern said that money was being made “off the back of suffering” and talked about the recent leaking of intimate private photos of celebrities. She said people had become numb to other people’s suffering and humiliation. She told the audience that she had decided to speak out on cyber-bullying to let “other know that you can survive it.”
Twitter boss Dick Costolo recently said that his company “sucks” when it comes to taking action on cyberbullying.