Why society condones cyberbullying and how we take our power back

Imagine winning a professional tennis tournament, walking up to the broadcast camera, and writing on the lens: "Who's talking now?"

Imagine being 22 years old and dealing with hordes of online trolls telling you your career is over after a layoff due to injury or early exit at a tournament.

Imagine having all your passion and effort reduced to having to shut up the armchair critics.

That’s precisely what French player Arthur Fils did after a recent win.

Why has it become acceptable for grown adults to say mean, abusive, and discouraging things to young athletes and artists? They put themselves out there for the love of their craft, and then trolls show up with the sole purpose of trying to ruin it.

Even journalists are allowed to bait reactions by demeaning athletes and creators under the guise of “reporting”.

That isn't freedom of speech.

It’s bullying for clicks.

Society feeds off it. People love the drama; they want to sit with their popcorn and watch others suffer simply for showing up and putting their hearts on the line.

Society tolerates the abuse. Damaged people are projecting their toxicity onto others. Instead, we should be forcing them to take accountability. A few years ago, I tried to get an online page removed because it was invasive and coming from an abusive ex. Platform support essentially told me they couldn't stop anyone from creating pages. Their processes support the abuse.

We do not motivate creators by tearing them down. It breaks their spirits the same way it would break ours.

But here's the thing: WE control the narrative more than we think.

If we collectively blocked, muted, reported, and refused to give attention to trolls, their platforms would vanish.

It really is that simple.

We need to stop being a culture that would rather watch people suffer than watch them thrive. Let’s stop feeding the noise and start rooting for the people who have the courage to show up.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.