Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Monica Lewinsky made a powerful comeback through a TED speech in late March after more than a decade of silence. Describing herself as the first victim of cyber bullying and public humiliation, she is calling for more public awareness toward devastating impact cyber bullying could cause to a victim.

An office affair with her boss, the then US president Bill Clinton, and the public exposure had made Lewinsky "lose reputation in global scale." Her reemergence may surprise quite a lot of people as the composure she exuded on the TED stage contradicted the image both traditional and new media had conveyed. In her own words, she was referred to as "slut, whore … That Woman."

The culture of public humiliation has long existed, as vividly illustrated in The Scarlet Letterwith its red A for adultery. From stone-throwing to cyber bullying, the form evolves along with the time. In the age of the Internet, public humiliation can have an instantly explosive effect and be exploited by rivals to fatally defame an opponent.

Public shame seemingly has a particular cultural root in China where opponent would often like to claim another layer of victory by morally destroying the rival. A female media guru in China recently became the latest victim of such tricks. A property developer who was exposed in a lengthy investigative reporting for alleged bribery threw mud on Hu Shuli, editor-in-chief of Caixin magazine, claiming that she has an unwedded son with his business rival. Hu and her magazine have reported this to the police, but obviously legal actions can hardly remedy the reputational damage.

No matter how advanced the rule of law, when a public humiliation story happens, serious debate of the issue cannot compete with the public's hunger for juicy details, which linger and are permanently accessible in the Internet age. In Asia where patriarchy is still strong, public shame puts female victims in a particularly vulnerable position.

Don't think one can escape the crucifixion of public shame if you are not a media queen, or Jennifer Lawrence, or not flirting with a head of state. People who have no fame can be instantly thrown into the national spotlight. A teacher couple from Hefei, Anhui Province became a national laughing stock in 2012 after photos of them at a swinging event were made public after being stolen while their computer was being fixed. The couple were later sacked from their positions.

People are recording more of their details as technology advances. Smart phone makes it so easy to take a naked selfie. It could become a disaster if you lose your phone or your iCloud account is hacked. Even you don't have such obsessions, a grievance made privately can blow up and become a public event. Sony Pictures executive Amy Pascal learned this in a hard way when her e-mails containing racist jokes were leaked during the North Korean movie hacking scandal.

The Internet seems to be making the world crueler in some ways. Who should we blame? Perhaps we are all easily drawn to sensational headlines and may even feel the schadenfreude that encourages and promotes public shame. This way, everybody can be victims of our appetite of others' private life, and judgement made by a cultural norm.

Will compassion and empathy be able to stop the culture of humiliation, or will we force ourselves to be bound by publicly accepted standards?