Leaked sex tapes aren't a joke - they're deadly

Women's Weekly reports that 31-year-old Tiziana Cantone's woes started in 2015 when she sent six different sex videos of herself to her former boyfriend and friends.

A WOMAN who sent a sex tape to her ex which later emerged online has taken her own life after being bombarded with abuse.

Her lawyer, Roberta Manzillo, is said to have taken legal action against a number of internet search engines as well as people responsible for sharing the sex tape on social networks.

The online ridicule was often centered on one short, throwaway phrase of Ms Cantone's, captured in the original footage: "You're making a video?"

"We remove content reported to us that violates our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and we escalate reports of harassment and bullying to law enforcement where appropriate".

A man carries Teresa Giglio, the mother of Tiziana Cantone, as she cries during her daughter's funeral in Casalnuovo, near Naples, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. Four men are now being investigated.

They claim she couldn't handle the trolling on social media after the video became hugely popular among Italian internet users. To spare her the mental torture and shame caused by explicit viral memes that sprouted, Cantone started the process of legally changing her name.

The video led to Cantone being widely mocked, escalating feelings of depression, with friends and family saying the 31 year old woman had been on the brink of suicide months prior to her suicide.

Italian Prime Minster Matteo Renzi told the BBC that the Italian government is helpless to stop the videos.

Cantone was also ordered to pay 20,000 euros (about $22,475) in legal fees, which, as the Guardian noted, many local media outlets called the "final insult".

Prosecutors in Naples are now investigating four people over "incitement to suicide" and defamation, according to Italian media. "Violence against women is not an ineradicable phenomenon".

"I wonder how anyone can be so fierce, how to rage against a girl who has not done anything wrong", Petrosino told the Corriere Della Sera.

The complaint remained open at the time of the woman's death on Tuesday.

"I think that all those who have filled the web with insults but secretly watched the images should be ashamed".