A top mental health advocate in Australia has hit out at Twitter and Instagram after the television personality Charlotte Dawson's death, saying they need to respond more quickly to bullying attacks on vulnerable users.
The former New Zealand model and presenter was found dead in her Woolloomooloo apartment in Sydney on Saturday morning. She was 47.
Her struggle with depression was well-known, and became particularly public in the past two years when she became a target on social media site, Twitter. Dawson was hospitalised in late 2012 after being bombarded with Twitter messages.
Charlotte Dawson was outspoken about her depression and in 2012 publicly waged war on so-called Twitter trolls.
Chief executive of the BeyondBlue organisation Kate Carnell says illnesses such as depression are usually linked to a cocktail of factors, including genes.
But she says relentless online abuse can exacerbate mental health concerns.