Stéphanie Mistre’s daughter killed herself two years ago in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône), after being harassed on social networks for years. She calls for “real awareness”.
“I don’t feel like there is any real awareness“, estimated this Tuesday on franceinfo Stéphanie Mistre, mother of Marie, a teenager who committed suicide two years ago in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône) after being harassed on social networks for years.
>> School harassment: the parents of a teenage girl who committed suicide file a complaint against TikTok, a first in France
The family filed a complaint against TikTok, a first in France, on September 8 for “provocation to suicide”, “failure to assist a person in danger” and “propaganda or advertising of means of killing oneself”, revealed franceinfo Monday.
“Infernal circuit”
On September 16, 2021 in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône), Marie was found dead by her parents. Like many teenagers, Marie often used TikTok. A few weeks before ending her life, she published a video to discuss her discomfort, her fed up with being harassed for her weight. The publication will automatically generate, on his account, the arrival of other videos on the same theme. Since Marie’s suicide, an investigation has been opened into the incidents of school harassment reported. The Toulon public prosecutor’s office specifies that his parents’ complaint against TikTok deserves an in-depth analysis.
Marie’s mother decided to file a complaint against the Chinese social network after discovering the harmful influence of the social network on her daughter. She points in particular to the algorithms: “These were things that incited her to suicide. There were talks of mutilation, these were all the things that put her back into this infernal circuit and to say to herself that, perhaps“suicide “is the best solution“, she explained on franceinfo.
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Last year in the United Kingdom, after the suicide of Molly, a 14-year-old girl, a court decision clearly blamed social media algorithms for the first time in this young girl’s act. . Molly committed suicide in 2017. For her parents, the content she viewed on social media had something to do with it. The young girl had received recommendations by email from Pinterest suggesting that she go and read “10 posts about depression you might like“. British justice ruled in favor of the teenager’s parents on September 30, 2022.
“Awareness”
More recently, Nicolas, a 15-year-old teenager who was the victim of school bullying, committed suicide on September 5 in Poissy in Yvelines. The new Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, brought together all the Academy rectors on Monday after the revelation of a threatening letter sent by the Versailles rectorate to Nicolas’s parents. “This mail is a shame“, estimated the minister.
“We have the impression that things are coming to an end with poor Nicolas. But how many Maries, how many Nicolas, how many Lindsays will it take? There really needs to be awareness that we are no longer experiencing the harassment of 20 years ago.“, explained Stéphanie Mistre.
On the political side, the bill to secure and regulate the digital space is examined from September 19 in the National Assembly. According to the Minister Delegate in charge of Digital, Jean-Noël Barrot, “Yes“, this text will make it possible to avoid tragedies like Marie’s suicide. On France Inter, he assures that, “it is Europe that will impose on TikTok [entre autres]thanks to this text of law, the fact of having its algorithms audited, of sharing its data with researchers, of imposing simple and accessible reporting processes for children, the withdrawal of content that is reported and this new obligation, which is for the platform to analyze and correct risks to users’ health“.
In the event of failure to comply with these obligations, “an application like TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover”, or “600 million euros”.
If you need help, if you are worried or if you are faced with the suicide of a member of your entourage, there are anonymous listening services. The Suicide listen line can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 01 45 39 40 00. Other information is also available on the website of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.
To report any situation of harassment or cyberharassment, whether you are a victim or a witness, there are free, anonymous and confidential telephone numbers: 3020 (harassment at school) and 3018 (cyberharassment), reachable from Monday to Saturday , from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Other information is also available on the website of the Ministry of National Education.