A FACEBOOK page described as “undeniably vile” by Bunbury residents has been removed and another positive page has taken its place.
The “Bunbury – Don’t Date Them” page was the latest in a long string of highly offensive and defamatory pages which have surfaced in recent years.
They are usually created as a copy-cat version of similar slanderous pages and generate thousands of “likers” within hours.
Many residents contacted the Bunbury Mail to draw attention to what one woman described as “one of the most barbaric and undeniably vile things I have seen posted on Facebook associated with Bunbury.”
The page took anonymous submissions from members and posted photos which identified individuals and made highly offensive comments about them.
It has since been shut down after it was reported to Facebook.
A positive version of the page was created on Thursday called “Don’t Hate Them – Bunbury”.
The page’s blurb says “Tell us what you love about people. Everything good will be posted. Anything hurtful or bad will not be tolerated. Bunbury needs love, not hate.”
It has been just over a week since hundreds of Bunbury residents paraded down Victoria Street chanting “Choose Respect” as part of a campaign which has aimed to unite the community in making our city a better place to live for more than six years.
But there is always going to be someone ready to hide behind a screen and keyboard and tear down others for a bit of entertainment.
It’s reassuring to hear so many people stand up against these pages but unfortunately this is not the first and definitely won’t be the last example of cyber bullying that will hit our city.
In January Federal member for Forrest Nola Marino announced government plans to introduce legislation to prevent cyber-bullying and other negative impacts stemming from social media.
Mrs Marino is pushing for an effective complaints system, backed by legislation, to get harmful material down fast from large social media sites.
She also wants to examine whether there should be a new and simplified cyber-bullying offence.
What do you think should be done about hate pages and cyber bullying? Email editor.bunburymail@fairfaxmedia.com.au
