A woman's brutal response to the Reddit troll who shamed her over her selfies has gone viral - and drawn an apology from her attacker.
- Cyberbullying costing New Zealand $444 million a year - NetSafe
- Auckland schoolboy victim of 'vulgar and relentless' cyber bullying
- 'The fallout is huge' - Kiwi teen's death brings cyberbullying into focus
Sydney-based online influencer Rebecca Lee was shocked when she learned one of her Instagram photos had been posted to a Reddit page which mocked users for editing their images.
She was then subjected to vicious taunts and trolling - including comments like "kill it with fire".
But she decided to confront her tormenters, making a Reddit account of her own so she could message the bully who created the post.
"You have taken a stranger's photo, my photo, without thinking I would find out about it," she told 'Stephanie'.
"I want you to know that I have all of your social media accounts and this link. I know exactly who you are, so by the clock of a button I too could blast your face on the internet.
"You are a real piece of work - I wonder if your friends, family and employer know that you're this type of person?"
"I'm a strong person, I have been through a lot in my life, but imagine if I wasn't," Ms Lee told Caters.
"Imagine if I was some vulnerable girl who hated herself and she saw that someone had done that.
"I thought, 'I'm going to go back and say something.'"
And to her shock, 'Stephanie' replied with an apology saying she was "truly sorry" for hurting her.
"The post is gone from Reddit and you message has made me re-evaluate my actions," she wrote.
Ms Lee says she felt sorry for her troll, who she thinks must have been dealing with her own problems to make her lash out.
"I feel like she was sincere in what she said, but she also must have freaked out a little bit and realised that I could quite easily find her on the internet and do the same thing to her.
"I wouldn't do that, but it just goes to show how easy it is.
"I hope I've made people stop and think about their actions."
Newshub.
