Teen Suicide: Site Refuses To Answer Questions

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 08 Agustus 2013 | 20.49

Staff at ask.fm - the Latvian-based website where a teenager was bullied before she killed herself - have refused to tell Sky News about how it reports abuse.

It comes as the father of victim Hannah Smith called for the website's owners to be charged with manslaughter.

And companies advertising on ask.fm, including Specsavers, Save The Children and Laura Ashley, have pulled their adverts from the website amid "deep concerns". 

The 14-year-old girl from Lutterworth, Leicestershire, took her own life on Friday after being abused on the social network site.

Dave Smith has accused the website owners of not caring that "teenagers are dying and killing themselves".

Speaking to the Daily Mirror in his first on-camera interview since Hannah's death, Mr Smith said: "The people that run it should get done for manslaughter or murder because you try contacting them and they don't care.

"These websites should be got rid of, if nothing else they need to be regulated and they need to stop people from doing this."

"If David Cameron was sitting here now I would want to know why he hasn't done something about this six, 12 - two years ago. Modern technology has gone on but the laws have stuck the same."

Hannah Smith (L) and Georgia Clarke (R) Hannah Smith (L) and her best friend Georgia Clarke

Ask.fm allows users to post anonymous questions and messages but has been criticised for not doing enough after several other teenagers took their lives - apparently after receiving abuse on the site.

Hannah committed suicide after repeated messages encouraging her to kill herself and criticising her appearance.

Sky's Ian Woods approached an employee in Latvia and asked to see the system for how the firm moderates its messages and how it reports and tackles abuse.

But the worker said the correspondent should speak to an official from the company.

Mr Smith and Hannah's stepmother Deborah said people needed to think more about the effect of their online posts as it emerged their elder daughter Jo has also been the target of abuse on the site.

Dave and Deborah Smith David Smith and and Hannah's stepmother Deborah (Pic: Mirror)

"How could you?", Mrs Smith said. "People need to stop and think. You can't just sit behind a keyboard and type something and think that doesn't matter. There's a complete lack of emotional intelligence."

Mr Smith added: "There's something not right with the world today that people can tell someone to die so many times that they actually do it."

The Prime Minister David Cameron has promised the Government would look at any action it can take to stop future tragedies like Hannah's death, which he called "an absolutely appalling case".

He also said: "The people that operate these websites have to step up to the plate and show some responsibility."

Ask.fm has called her death a "true tragedy" and said it is cooperating with Leicestershire Police's investigation.

In a statement the site said it actively "encourages users and their parents to report any incidences of bullying", either by using the in-site reporting button, or via the website's contact page.

"All reports are read by our team of moderators to ensure that genuine concerns are heard and acted upon immediately - and we always remove content reported to us that violates our Terms of Service," the statement added.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samaritans.org.

:: BeatBullying.org is also available for advice and support.


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