Hi everyone!
I’m not really sure what/how to post here as I’m new to mum’s net (be gentle with me) but here I go. Just so you know, I am not a mother nor am I going to be one for the foreseeable future but I hope you’ll take what I have to say onboard regardless of that.
Essentially, I’ve joined mum’s net to raise awareness of an issue really close to my heart: my campaign and petition against content that glorifies self harm, suicide and eating disorders on social media platforms.
I’m sure that a lot of you have seen the news over the last few weeks regarding young children committing suicide and self harming thanks to the influence of social media or their exposure to inappropriate content on such platforms.
The stories of Molly Russell and Ursula Keogh have prompted me to take action against this distressing content that is deeply affecting young, impressionable, susceptible and vulnerable people.
I’ve come to you: the mums, the dads, the guardians, the grandparents, the care-givers to warn you how popular and accessible this culture is on social media, in case you don’t already know. This content depicts images that even adults will find hard to stomach, quotes, comments and captions that will make you tear up, videos that will make you fear for the well-being of your child AND it’s so simple for anyone to come across. All you have to do is type in the right hashtag or keyword and once you find one account or one image, you find more. It’s like an infestation.
I’m urging you to please read and sign my petition that calls for social media giants to ban photos, videos, drawings, quotes, captions and comments that glorify self harm, suicide and eating disorders and instead offers help to those who try and post, share or interact with this content.
If you don’t know or believe how disturbing some of the content is, I urge you to search for these topics on social media platforms such as Instagram or Tumblr and see for yourself what your children, nieces, nephews, godchildren, cousins and siblings can access with a few clicks.
People are curious and that’s normal, but don’t let curiousity about this content kill your kid.
Thank you so much for reading, for your time and hopefully for your signatures. Here’s the link (sorry I didn’t know how to hyperlink it on mobile):
www.change.org/p/nick-clegg-mp-social-media-ban-content-that-glorifies-self-harm-suicide-and-eating-disorders?recruiter=195924401&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition