'Who does this?' B.C. mom wants anonymous apps banned after daughter urged to kill herself
Credit to Author: Randy Shore| Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:06:53 +0000
A mother whose daughter was bullied online wants anonymous social media apps such as Tellonym and YOLO banned.
The 13-year-old girl was driven to suicidal thoughts and even overdosed after being harassed and told to kill herself by unknown attackers, according to Natalie Boll.
Boll has started a change.org petition to convince the federal government and distributors such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play to keep anonymous social apps out of the hands of children.
“She could have died and has now been admitted into (B.C.) Children’s Hospital on two occasions for self-harming after a year of relentless bullying,” she said.
Boll’s daughter downloaded Tellonym at the age of 12 to use in tandem with Instagram and later starting using the Snapchat add-on YOLO, as well.
Tellonym bills itself as a platform for “honest questions and feedback” and allows users to solicit “tells,” anonymous messages about their lives, looks and personality.
Things turned dark almost immediately with a barrage of abusive massages that encouraged Boll’s daughter to harm herself.
“The messages were extremely malicious and outright lies,” Boll said. “They are 12. Who does this?”
She took her daughter’s phone for a time, but the youngster went back to the apps, perhaps because so many of her friends were using it, Boll said.
“Over the summer, while we were abroad, my daughter started to get more messages on the YOLO app, including ones talking of gang rape,” she said. “I immediately deleted the app and all the messages.”
Boll has not been able to identify her daughter’s abusers.
Tellonym bills itself as a platform for ‘honest questions and feedback’ and allows users to solicit ‘tells,’ anonymous messages about their lives, looks and personality.
“Why are we allowing these apps if it is so difficult to find out who is using them to break the law?” she asked.
More than 10 million people have installed Tellonym and 150,000 have apparently reviewed it. Many of the reviewers praise the honesty that anonymity allows, while others complain that it is a hotbed of bullying.
A similar app called Sarahah was dropped by Google Play and Apple after a viral petition was launched by an Australian woman who complained her daughter was being urged to kill herself by anonymous tormentors. It is still possible to download Sarahah from the company’s website.
“I looked online and found cases like this in Australia, the U.K., and Canada, and I’m wondering why they are still allowed,” said Boll. “They are breeding grounds for hate and when I went to the police I found out how hard it is to definitively find their IP addresses and to get a warrant to search a phone.”
The minimum age for YOLO was set at 12+ when it was launched and it was the most downloaded app in the U.K and the United States a week after its release. The user age was subsequently raised to 17+, according to internetmatters.org. Tellonym is currently rated 17+.
The change in age rating does not remove the app if it has already been installed.
Tellonym advises users that their anonymity will be protected “unless you commit a crime on Tellonym (bullying is a crime).”
‘Why are we allowing these apps if it is so difficult to find out who is using them to break the law?’ says Natalie Boll, holding a picture her 13-year-old daughter had drawn.
“The content you post can be critical or unfriendly, however, insulting or hurting others is not tolerated on Tellonym,” the website reads.
The reality can be very different.
“Any anonymous messaging app can be used for cyber-bullying,” said tech columnist Peter Vogel.
The earliest anonymous apps were created with good intentions — such as workplace feedback — but quickly developed a following among teens, he said.
“What could go wrong, you ask?” he said. “Well, just about everything. Anonymity becomes impunity.”
Regulation of smartphone apps in Canada is mainly focused on protecting the personal information and privacy of users rather than on the function of the apps themselves.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.