Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
How many More?
» Brianna’s mum warns online death toll could be even higher
EXCLUSIVE
BY
THE mother of murdered teen Brianna Ghey fears more young lives could be lost due to delays to a social media crackdown.
Esther Ghey joined bereaved families to demand that no other parents suffer the loss she has.
Parents of 11 children whose deaths they link to social media activity yesterday urged Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to do all they can to force tech giants to tackle the risks on their platforms.
Ms Ghey raised concerns after media regulator Ofcom admitted that new rules may not be introduced until the end of next year.
She told the Mirror: “I totally understand Ofcom’s view that we need to cross the Ts and dot the Is, and everything needs to be perfect so social media companies can’t come back and take legal action.
But during this time we’re potentially losing more children’s lives.
“Also, there are children who are struggling with their mental health, there are children who are selfharming and we do need to try to get this done as soon as possible.”
Earlier, she told BBC Breakfast: “Our stories are public but how many children have been struggling with their mental health?
“How many children have been affected, self-harmed, have taken their own lives that we don’t know about?”
The group of parents also includes Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life aged 14. He warned:
“For too long, technology platforms have been able to prioritise profits over children’s safety.
“Across the country, there is a genuine and deeply held concern among parents – and you will be aware of the growing calls for a reset in the way tech companies design their products.”
He urged the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to act both as politicians and as fathers. “We encourage you to do everything at your disposal to ensure that we finally tackle their inaction, and to ensure that no other parent has to bury their children before their time,” he added.
Ofcom yesterday published its draft Children’s Safety Codes of Practice, which sets out more than 40 practical measures tech giants must implement to meet new legal duties under the Online Safety Act. Firms must stop their algorithms recommending harmful content relating to suicide, eating disorders and porn to children, and use robust age checks.
But Ofcom has admitted its final code may not be published until summer 2025, after which firms will have three months to assess the guidance. Ms Ghey and
Mr Russell yesterday challenged Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, who said the legislation needs to be “bulletproof ” for the tech companies.
She said: “These are companies that are multi-billion pound organisations. What we don’t want to do is do it so fast that it has lots of loopholes or they can easily litigate and it’s chewed up in the courts for years.”
Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes said social media companies are not assessing what the experience of a teenager is like on their platforms.
She said: “We are going to have to force through new ways. We will do that through testers. You are
13, you go online, do you still see the content you get today, do you still
Sporty Christoforos took his own life after joining an online forum where he received “horrific messages”. The teenager, who had been noticeably more withdrawn in the last couple of months of his life, was found unconscious at his family home in Cheshunt, Herts, in March 2022. see pornography, suicide material, hateful content, bullying frequently?
“We can test that. And we are going to demand data from the platforms and publishing reports on it.”
Other parents in the group included Hollie Dance, the mum of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who died when a “prank or experiment” went wrong, and Mariano Janin, dad of Mia Janin, who took her own life in 2021 at the age of 14.
The Prime Minister’s official
spokesman praised Ofcom’s draft rules, calling them “significant and farreaching”.
However Shadow Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “These protections would have been in place years ago if they hadn’t fallen victim to Tory chaos.
“Labour has repeatedly called on the Government to take tougher action and to stop the crucial protections in the Online Safety Act being delayed.
“A Labour government would work with bereaved families and issue a statement of strategic priorities for Ofcom which keeps up with new dangers.”
VOICE OF MIRROR: PAGE 8
Maia Walsh, 13
Maia was found dead at her home in Hertford – just short of her 14th birthday – in October 2022. She is thought to have killed herself accidentally, after watching self-harm videos on Tiktok. Dad Liam said: “I can only depict them to be really chilling to watch. It’s some kind of grooming.”
Jools Sweeney, 14
Schoolboy Julian, known as Jools, was found dead at his home in Cheltenham,
Glos, in April 2022. His mum, Ellen Roome, believes a dangerous online challenge was to blame for his death. She is still searching for answers after being unable to access her son’s Tiktok account without a court order.
Sophie Parkinson, 13
In March 2014, Sophie was found dead at her family home just outside Dundee. An inquiry heard she had searched online for ways to end her life. Her mum Ruth Moss says that when she went to look at her daughter’s social media “there was a barrage of really distressing material”.
Olly Stephens, 13
Teenager Olly was stabbed to death in a field near his home in Reading after getting into an argument on social media. He had fallen out with his killers in January 2021 because they thought he had “grassed” them up to the brother of a boy they had mocked in a group chat.
But tech minister insists laws have to be ‘bulletproof’
Mia Janin, 14
Tormented Mia took her own life after being continuously cyber-bullied. She was found dead at the family home in Harrow, north-west London, in March 2021. An inquest heard boys from Jewish Free School, which she attended, had ridiculed her Tiktok videos in a Snapchat group.
Isaac Kenevan, 13
Lisa Kenevan found her son lifeless on the bathroom floor of their home in Basildon, Essex, in March 2022. Isaac was “a typical teenage boy” and a big fan of gaming and sport. His devastated mother believes that he was taking part in a Tiktok “choking challenge” when he died.