NSW Mum Applauded by World Leaders At UN Social Media Ban Event
Image: Lukas Coch / AAP
A mum who lost her teenage daughter to suicide driven by online bullying has received a standing ovation from world leaders at a UN event in support of Australia’s incoming social media ban.
Emma Mason, a mother from Bathurst, spoke to leaders from Greece, Malta, Fiji and Tonga, along with dignitaries from the Philippines, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, about her 15-year-old daughter, Tilly, who died by suicide in 2022 after fake nude photos of her were circulated on social media.
“Afterwards, police confirmed her phone history was full of Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok videos related to suicide, death and mental illness,” Mason said.
“This was death by bullying but it was enabled by social media.”
Mason has used her tragic experience to create policy change in the hopes that “other children don’t endure” what Tilly had to.
“Since Tilly died, I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many parents like me because there were so many Tillys in the community.
“There are Max, Ollies, Livs, Charlottes, Siennas, Allans. These are real Australian children who have died by suicide — and social media was to blame.
“So now I ask you to hold my Tilly and all the lost children in your hearts and do what you can to change the narrative across our world for Tilly’s sake because how many more Tillys must die?”
International leaders intrigued by ban
The Australian-hosted event was part of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s efforts to establish an international caucus to tackle social media access among children.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the children’s social media ban was something his government was considering, calling unfettered access to the internet “the biggest unchecked experiment with our children’s brains ever”.
Albanese acknowledged that while the ban wasn’t perfect, legislating a minimum age for social media is a “sensible but overdue step”.
“As social media evolves, and as the tug-of-war between real life and endless scrolling grows ever more uneven, the load is not one that should be borne by kids and their parents alone,” he told the event.
“With this law, we are saying: You don’t have to.”
Australia’s own social media ban is set to come into action on 10 December this year, with platforms including YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok facing fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to meet acceptable standards.
Elon Musk-owned social media company, X, has written to the Senate in an effort to delay the ban for at least six months, arguing it undermines children’s rights by curbing their free speech and access to information.
In their submission, they invoked the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and warned of a “major threat to freedom of information, speech, and access to the internet.”
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