In an emotional TED talk in Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday, Monica Lewinsky candidly challenged public perception and called for an end to internet cyber bullying.

“At age 22, I fell in love with my boss,” she said. “At age 24, I learned the devastating consequences… Can I see a show of hands of anyone here who didn’t make a mistake or do something they regretted at 22?”

Lewinsky, the infamous former White House intern who was caught in an affair with President Bill Clinton, has reemerged into the limelight in order to speak about the dangers and consequences of cyber bullying. The now 41-year-old was blasted by the tabloids when the scandal with Clinton surfaced in 1998.

“I was branded a tramp, tart, slut, whore, bimbo and, of course, that woman,” she said. “When this happened to me 17 years ago, there was no name for it. Now it’s called cyberbullying and online harassment.” She went on to say, “In 1998, I lost my reputation and my dignity. I lost almost everything… I almost lost my life.”

Lewinsky was close to tears as she related how her mother, Marcia Kay Vilensky, sat up with her every night and made her shower with the bathroom door open during her period of trauma. “Both of my parents feared that I would be humiliated to death. Literally,” she said.

All this happened before technology and social media really came on the scene. “Cruelty is nothing new. But online, technologically enhanced shaming is amplified, uncontained and permanently accessible,” said Lewinsky. “Millions of people can stab you with their words and that’s a lot of pain.”

During her speech, Lewinsky called for listeners to boycott tabloids, gossip websites, and others who traffic in the commodity of human dignity. “A marketplace has emerged where public humiliation is a commodity and shame is an industry. How is the money made? Clicks. The more shame the more clicks,” she said. “Public shaming as a blood sport has to stop.”

Lewinsky ended her talk by saying, “Just imagine walking a mile in someone else’s headline.”