Tilly Rosewarne: Parliamentary inquiry told of how teenage girl took her own life after severe cyber bullying
A mother grieving over her 15-year-old “brave little girl” who committed suicide has told how her daughter felt “broken” by the bullying she faced on social media, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
For its second public hearing on Friday, the inquiry continued to examine the “influence and impact of social media on Australian society” by inviting representatives from Meta, Snap Inc, TikTok Australia and Google to provide insight into the changing landscape.
The commission is investigating how Meta’s decision to terminate deals under the News Media Bargaining Code will impact the Australian media.
The investigation focused on Matilda ‘Tilly’ Rosewarne, who committed suicide in February 2022 after being bullied on social media, including Snapchat.
Tilly’s mother, Emma Mason, wrote in her contribution to the study about the damage her “brave little girl” suffered in the lead-up to her death from cyberbullying.
The inquiry was told Tilly’s privacy was breached after a student at her school circulated a photo of a body with the head cut out of the frame on Snapchat, claiming it was the teenager among her classmates.
‘This was her twelfth attempt to take her own life. She was only 15 years old,” Ms Mason wrote in her entry.
“She was exhausted, tired and broken.”
Tilly Rosewarne died by suicide in February 2022. She had been the victim of shocking cyberbullying
Henry Turnbull, head of public policy at Snap Inc., told the inquiry that Snapchat, which is operated by Snap Inc., has worked hard to provide users with every opportunity to feel safe on the platform.
Mr Turnbull encouraged users to block and report accounts they believed were harmful to others.
“I think there’s a misconception on platforms like Snapchat that if you report someone, they’ll know about it,” he said.
‘That is not true. We respond to reports within 10 minutes.’
Snapchat launched new resources for those dealing with bullying with Australian-specific content like Reach Out.
Tilly’s mother has shared her story with the parliamentary inquiry into the impact of social media
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace, who shared Tilly’s story with the inquiry on Friday, said the teenager’s death was “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
According to Mr Wallace, her story was “just one of hundreds of stories” he heard from the community about the link between social media and teen suicide.
Mr Turnbull said Snapchat is always working to continue improving its systems to ensure people feel safe online.
“This work is never done, bullying is unfortunately something that happens both in the real world and online,” he said.
‘We are working hard to address the problem and I realise how damaging it can be and how devastating it can be for the people affected.
Tilly (pictured) was found dead by her father near her old shed at the family’s Bathurst home in central west NSW on the morning of February 16, 2022.
“From our perspective, it’s about focusing on the actions we take to address these risks.”
Meanwhile, Lucinda Longcroft, director of Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Australia and New Zealand, said the platform also holds its users’ security to the highest standards.
“We are certainly open to exploring options to ensure the safety of Australian users,” she said.
‘We never feel like we are doing enough to fulfill our responsibility.
‘We are constantly working on the safety of children, as they are among the most vulnerable users. However, the safety of all our users is of the utmost importance and our responsibility.
‘We invest time, resources and people’s expertise to ensure that our systems and our services or products are safe in the areas of mental health and suicide.’
Tilly’s story was told to a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of social media
Meta vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis told the committee she did not think social media had harmed children.
“I think social media has brought us tremendous benefits,” Davis said.
“I think teen mental health issues are complex and multifactorial. I believe it is our responsibility as a company to ensure that teenagers can enjoy the benefits of social media in a safe and positive environment.”
Mr Wallace said to Mrs Davis: ‘You can’t be serious’.
“You can’t take Ms. Davis seriously when you say that,” he said.
Ms Davis said Meta is “committed to providing a safe and positive experience” for all users, especially teenagers.
“For example, if a teen is struggling with an eating disorder and they’re using our platform, we want to try to put safeguards in place to make sure that they have a positive experience and that we’re not exacerbating or making the situation that they’re in worse,” she said.
Senator Sarah Henderson told the inquiry she recently saw a video on an Instagram livestream showing the “most horrific attack on a school student by another student.”
Senator Henderson asked Meta what ‘mechanisms’ were in place to prevent these videos from being live streamed.
“Because the bottom line is you’re not stopping this. There are countless cases where this shows you’re not succeeding in stopping this kind of online behavior,” she said.
Ms Davis said Meta took videos like the one Senator Henderson saw “very seriously”.
“We have policies against that kind of content,” she said.
“We are building classification systems to proactively identify that content.”
The committee is expected to submit its interim report on August 15, while the final report is due on November 18.
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