Brianna Gee’s mother called her murder a “tipping point” in society’s view of internet “disruption” and warned that a generation of anxious young people will grow up lacking resilience.
Esther Gay said technology companies have a “moral responsibility” to restrict access to harmful online content. She supports a complete ban on social media access for those under 16. The measure is currently being debated in some US legislatures, including the state of Florida.
She believes her daughter has spent so much time online and has no contact with real-life friends, making her vulnerable. Gee also believes Brianna would still be alive if the perpetrators who planned to kill her on February 11 of last year didn’t have access to violent content on the dark web as well as the regular internet. she said.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, the 37-year-old food technologist said technology heads were also to blame for the wave of anxiety and mental health issues affecting children, adding that it was “young people “This has led to a complete lack of resilience,” she said. .
He said tech companies should reflect not only on Brianna’s murder, but also on “the number of young people who have taken their own lives” as a result of harmful online experiences.
She named Company X (formerly Twitter) for hosting the pro-anorexia accounts that Brianna followed, which likely resulted in her being hospitalized for an eating disorder in 2022. Gays fear that an entire generation that grew up watching online porn will now have a hard time forming. “Stable human relationships.”
She said that without action from tech companies, more children would die, “more people would have mental health problems, and we would become less resilient and less empathetic as a society.” I warned you.
Mr Gee said the creators of smartphone apps and social media sites are “enlightened people” who have a duty to protect the mental health of young smartphone users more than parents or governments.
“They’re the ones who developed this technology. They’re the ones who got us into this mess in the first place. And I think it’s their responsibility to get us out of this mess,” she said. .
Furthermore, she added: “I think they have a moral responsibility to protect young people and protect society in general, but especially our young people, because they are the next generation of people who are going to run the country. And at this point, , I think that has a big impact on them.”
Gay said parents cannot be expected to be the only ones monitoring the internet. “It takes a village to raise a child. We all need to come together and think about what we can do, but I actually think most of the responsibility lies with technology companies because they All because they developed this technology. Maybe they didn’t realize how big it would explode and what the impact would be. But these people were intelligent People. So how could they not have predicted what the impact would be in the first place?”
When asked if she wanted companies like Apple and Google to reflect on Brianna’s death, she said: “I don’t think Brianna’s death is the only thing they should reflect on. What about the number of young people who commit suicide? What about those who struggle with eating disorders? Those who self-harm or those who suffer from anxiety? What about those who have? There are plenty of them. [harmful] It’s a resource for people who are really struggling right now, and I think smartphone use is having a huge impact on that. ”
Briana had a large following on TikTok and dreamed of becoming “TikTok famous.” She also had close friendships with other transgender people online. However, her mother believes that social media has done her more harm than good, and if she wasn’t so worried, she would have loved to have her own tribe in the offline world. She believes that she has found “.
She said face-to-face contact is important, especially for young and vulnerable people.
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“Face-to-face contact gives you empathy and understanding and lets you know that the other person is a human being too. Whereas when you’re behind a keyboard, people can say whatever they want when they’re behind a screen.” I feel like kids need to have real social interactions with people.”
She compared social media to drug treatment and said regulators need to consider whether its benefits outweigh the side effects. “I definitely think the disadvantages of social media for young people outweigh the advantages,” she says.
Gee is campaigning for the introduction of “children’s mobile phones” that do not have social media apps and are linked to their parents’ devices. Parents will receive a warning if their child downloads something or searches for dangerous content.
Scarlett Jenkinson, who killed Brianna with Eddie Ratcliffe, told jurors she had downloaded an app to access the dark web when she was 14 and liked watching videos of real-life torture and death. .
Both defendants were just 15 years old when they planned and carried out the murder at Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, and had repeatedly searched the internet for methods of killing.
“I think if we had technology that flagged certain words, potentially she would still be with us. That would have made things even more difficult for Scarlett and Eddie,” Gee said. Told.