Recently the town I went to school in as a child has seen a Spotted page arise and within a few days the page itself has thousands of likes and is updated regularly. Like Foucault's metaphor of the Panopticon, the page acts as a high place looking down upon the people casting judgement hither and thither from the position of power that anonymity brings.

Clearly we as society, policymakers and website service providers need to consider how we can do more to ensure less people become victims of online abuse, commit suicide, have "bad internet experiences," are forced to move from school to school, home to home, and are even afraid to use the internet.

Empathy can be expressed on a spectrum, and how a child responds to a given situation may depend on a range of different complex psychological and child development issues. For example a child on the autistic spectrum may not recognise that their online actions or behaviour may come across as inappropriately blunt.

Protection of young people online is very much needed as 12% of 9 to 12-year-olds say they have been upset, mainly by bullying (40%) and by sexual content and approaches (25%). Young people spend on average 88 minutes a day online.

Lady Gaga is now initiating a movement committed to inspiring youth to love more, to be brave and stand up for others, and resist the urge to engage in the casual cruelty and meanness so often expressed in the digital world. This was more than a sermon; this was becoming a rallying cry.

Hundreds of thousands of young people are being subjected to cyberbullying, with many being victimised for a year or more, new research suggests. A...