A new website is launching today to raise awareness about cyberbullying, a problem that’s becoming more common as technology advances.
Darieth Chisolm has an impressive resume: former news anchor at Channel 11, Emmy winning TV host, speaker, author, entrepreneur, and life and business coach. But now, she’s also a victim, after she was attacked by a cyberbully.
“I picked up my cellphone one day and I look, and there’s harassing memes with photos of me with lies written across them. And then another one came through, and it was a photo of me naked,” Chisolm said.
Chisolm said an ex-boyfriend was outraged when she ended the relationship. First, she said he threatened to kill her, then sent the naked pictures, which were taken while she was asleep, and it didn’t stop.
“It grew from there, because shortly after that I got a text message saying ‘check out this website’. I clicked the link. There’s a website now with all of these photos and a video he put together with the photos strung together,” said Chisolm.
Investigators call it “revenge porn”. It’s when someone posts sexually explicit pictures and/or videos online, all to cause someone stress or embarrassment. The impact for Chisolm was immediate.
“I hit the floor. I can’t even tell you where that sent me.”
Chisolm transformed her fear and shame, and turned it into a mission called “50 Shades of Silence”. She’s shooting a documentary, and starting a global online movement to strengthen laws, force social media companies to take action, and most importantly, support and encourage other victims to stay strong.
Those pictures taken of Chisolm have all been removed from the internet, because she hired a service that was able to scrub them. Chisolm’s website has information about that, as well as resources for victims and their families, at 50shadesofsilence.com.
