In a tragic turn of events, a 12-year-old girl in the US has tragically died by suicide over the Christmas break.
Katelyn Nicole Davis took her own life at her family home in Georgia – and livestreamed it.
The Weekly chooses to not watch the video, which online users duplicated and shared online, out of respect for Katelyn and her family, but according to reports, the footage ran for 42 minutes and included Katelyn claiming that she had been sexually abused by a family member.
Police didn’t arrive in time to save the young girl and she was pronounced dead at a nearby medical centre.
Worryingly, this clip still exists online, with local police admitting they have no legal standing to force the owners of the websites hosting the video to take down the horrific footage.
“We want it down as much as anyone for the family and it may be harmful to other kids,” Police Chief Kenny Dodd told Fox 5 Atlanta.
“We contacted some of the sites. They asked if they had to take it down and by law, they don’t.”
“But it’s just the common, decent thing to do in my opinion.”
What this heartbreaking event highlights is that the law still has no real grip on controlling what is published online – a worrying side effect of the rapid rate technology continues to evolve.
Our thoughts are with those who knew and loved Katelyn during this difficult time.
If you, or someone you know, would like to have a free, confidential chat with someone they can trust, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit their website [www.lifeline.org.au](https://www.lifeline.org.au/ target=”_blank”).
