As people celebrate migrant children dying in custody, has the internet made evil our new normal?

A woman holds a sign with photos of migrant children who have died in US custody as people protest against the upcoming ICE raids and detentions of refugee asylum seekers at a vigil outside the main ICE detention center in downtown Los Angeles on July 12, 2019. - Numerous vigils were held across the US as part of the Lights for Liberty movement's campaign to call for an end to "inhumane conditions at the border" and the deportations of refugee asylum seekers. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, it was unusual to hear hundreds of people claim that children deserve to die. Over the past ten months, six migrant children have died after being detained by United States border authorities, and a remarkable number of Americans don’t really mind. Last month, after a few casual, carefree clicks on Twitter, I found myself staring in awe at post after post justifying, celebrating, or dismissing the death of immigrants.

Thanks to the internet, I now know that there is a person in the world who can read about the death of ten-year-old Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle – who travelled from El Salvador to the US in the hope of reuniting with her mother – and reply “bummer”.