My girl died after reading a suicide ‘guide’ online ...now we have to punish the web giant who published it
THE mother of a 13-year-old girl who killed herself after looking at ‘suicide guides’ online has demanded a crackdown on irresponsible web giants ahead of an investigation into her death.
Ruth Moss’s daughter, Sophie Parkinson, took her own life in 2014 after studying self-harm manuals on the internet.
The tragedy has left Ms Moss, 48, fighting to understand how her ‘sensitive, caring’ teenager – who dreamed of becoming a vet – felt her only option was to kill herself.
The devastated mother is set to give evidence as a key witness next month at a fatal accident inquiry into her daughter’s death.
Ahead of appearing in court by video link, Ms Moss – a senior research nurse who now works for the Scottish Government to help deliver its suicide prevention programme – has issued an impassioned plea to technology firms to protect children from harmful material online.
She is also calling for stronger internet safeguarding legislation.
If online sites do not comply with new laws, Ms Moss said, they should receive harsher and more meaningful penalties.
Last night, she told how she hoped her work to raise awareness of online dangers might save another family from losing a child.
Ms Moss said: ‘Social media is something that has a lot of positive impact but for vulnerable people and vulnerable children, it can be devastating.
‘It’s very easy to blame parents and say parents should keep their children off the internet, but when they get to their teenage years I would question whether parents can keep an eye on their children’s internet use 24/7.
‘Even if they are very strict with it at home, it can be a difficult situation away from home.’
She added: ‘Parental education is really important. And there needs to be accountability by social media companies and big tech needs to really start taking an interest in this.
‘Finally, there needs to be legislation, so that if big tech don’t take responsibility there will be meaningful comeback.’
Sophie, who attended a private school, first started to suffer from mental ill health when she was eight, and she was referred to specialists at NHS Tayside’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service unit.
Over time, her problems grew worse – but Ms Moss claims that doctors failed to act.
Sophie even started to read up on self-harm and looked at ‘suicide guides’ on the internet. She died at the family home in Dundee. Serious concerns have been raised about such ‘suicide guides’, which tend to be posted on message boards, so-called ‘pro-self-harm’ and ‘pro-suicide’ websites, blogs or social media profiles.
Depending on the website, they can be filled with images of bleeding wounds, quotes about depression and loneliness and suggestions on how to harm. On a common blogging website, a cursory search for the term ‘selfharm’ produces hundreds of results, including a troubling cartoon of a young girl advising people to kill themselves.
Another image depicts a seemingly out-of-control car with the hashtag ‘suicidal’.
Meanwhile, one ‘guide’ on a different forum claims to help those who already self-harm, recommending how to keep wounds clean and what tools to avoid.
It also reassures readers that selfharm is ‘valid, meaning your mental suffering is real’.
Ms Moss said that such suicide guides and the prevalence of harmful content online was a key part of her campaigning.
Last year she met former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, now a Facebook executive, who promised to rid the site of harmful material.
Earlier this year she called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to show ‘backbone’ on the issue – even suggesting tech executives should go to prison for allowing harmful images to circulate.
Ms Moss, now based in Edinburgh, said: ‘I’ve worked closely with [children’s charity] NSPCC – they were key in getting an online safety hub up in a format that was going to be useful and hold social media companies to account. As a parent I never expected to be in this situation. It is one of those things that comes up and hits you in the face, and it is a really important issue.
‘I felt it was quite important after our experience to stand up and to do something about it.’
Questions still remain about whether the NHS could have done more to prevent Sophie’s death – an issue that will be explored at the fatal accident inquiry.
Ms Moss said: ‘Sophie was a really caring child. If there was anything wrong with anyone she would be there.
‘I think that was one of the problems – she was a very sensitive child who took everything to heart. She wanted to be a vet.’
A spokesman for NHS Tayside said: ‘As this is a legal matter [the FAI] we are unable to comment.
‘Every suicide is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the family.’
‘Parental education is really important’