Was Selena Gomez Wrong To Slam Her Instagram Bully Publicly?

It certainly seemed like the brave thing to do.

Selena Gomez took to her Instagram, on Saturday, to call out a troll for making a hurtful and "absurd" comment on one of her photos.

The troll, a woman, reportedly remarked that the Disney starlet should "burn in hell with cancer."

Selena, undoubtedly considering her position as a role model to her young fans, posted a response to the horrible comment, suggesting it was "distatesful of a young woman" and "uncalled for."

But our expert David Cook, a cyber crime lawyer from Slater and Gordon, said that although many would admire Selena's response, she was actually sending the wrong message to her young and impressionable fans.

"The worst thing to do is to react in a tit for tat argument," David said.

"You shouldn't engage in any kind of banter or insults back, because things can escalate quickly. Especially for someone in the public eye - people can often jump on board an argument and you don't want to encourage that kind of mob mentality," he continued.

"People sitting in a bedroom, behind a closed door, take risks and say things they wouldn't dare to if they were in a face-to-face situation," he said, and responding to them only fuels their fire.

Selena, he argued, has a responsibility to her young fans, to demonstrate the correct way to handle online bullying.

"Young people tend to be early adopters, so more and more children [with different social media accounts] are being exposed to the risk of cyber bullying at the most psychologically vulnerable stage in their lives," David said.

And while Selena might have an army of bodyguards and PR personnel, to help her negotiate an online attack, should she provoke one, her young fans do not have the same kind of support.

As we know, there have been several horrifying cases of self-harm and even suicide among youngsters, in response to cyber bulling.

What Should You Do?

"A lot of these sites already have take down procedures and report buttons, so while it is easy to insult them back, it is important to steer clear of this," David advised.

"If it happens on two or more occasions, then that becomes harrassment - a criminal offence and you can deal with this by way of a civil injuction," he said.

"Parents should be advised," he continued, "to understand what their children are doing. This doesn't mean looking over your child's shoulder the whole time, as they are likely to stop you from seeing things, but host an open discussion with them and be responsive when they come to you with something that has happened that they aren't comfortable with."

Whether it's overt cyber bullying, the peer pressure of Neknominations or falling into traps set by online predators which encourage the sharing of inappropriate photos, children need to be supported in their internet use, coached about how to deal with certain situations and prevented, as far as possible, from engaging with the people who would do them harm.

 [Justin Bieber And Selena Gomez Are Trying To Make Each Other Jealous Again]

[11 Reasons Why The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Is The Most Ridiculous On Earth]

What are your thoughts? Was Selena setting the right example to her young fans? Let us know in the comments!