‘She just couldn’t fight anymore’: Mother demands social media ban after 15yo daughter’s 12th suicide attempt succeeds

Warning: The article mentions details of suicide and bullying. Kindly proceed with caution

A mother from Sydney has asked world leaders to ban children under 16 from social media after her 15-year-old daughter killed herself following years of severe online bullying. Emma Mason gave an emotional speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, asking leaders to make technology companies pay for the harm they cause to young users.

Matilda “Tilly” Rosewarne died by suicide on February 16, 2022, after facing constant bullying that started when she was just eight years old. The bullying got worse on social media platforms, especially Snapchat, where fake nude photos of the teenager were shared among thousands of students. The bullying seriously damaged Tilly’s mental health and led to several suicide attempts before her death.

Mason told UN officials about her daughter’s final moments, explaining how Tilly had carefully planned everything. “My brave little girl, determined to look pretty, put on her makeup one last time,” Mason said. “She had planned this moment out in detail. Exhausted and broken, she just couldn’t fight anymore.” Tilly climbed onto the backyard tree house, put a noose around her neck, and stepped off. Her father and 13-year-old sister found her.

How fake images on Snapchat triggered the tragedy

The breaking point came in November 2020 when a male classmate created and shared a fake nude photo of Tilly on Snapchat. The image reached more than 3,000 children within hours. Mason called the school right away, but school officials said they could not do anything because the boy and his mother denied he had his phone that day.

That same night, Tilly tried to kill herself by cutting her arms. “There was a lot of blood. She never really recovered,” Mason said. Police told the family it was hard to stop what was happening because they had to wait months for information from Snapchat. As Tilly struggled with depression, the bullying kept going with many messages telling her to kill herself.

Mason said that social media companies like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok played a direct role in her daughter’s death. She said these platforms fail to protect young users and harm their mental health, ability to focus, sleep patterns, and social lives. “In the same way car makers are responsible for protecting people who drive their cars, social media giants must take responsibility for protecting our children,” Mason said. The case shows growing worries about how fake images and changed content can destroy young lives.

Australia has already acted by passing the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act in November 2024. The law sets 16 as the minimum age for social media access and will start on December 10, 2025. Platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, and X must take proper steps to stop underage users from creating accounts or face fines up to $49.5 million. Mason asked other countries around the world to pass similar laws.