Matilda ‘Tilly’ Rosewarne’s tragic teen suicide inspires change
The chair of a sweeping online safety inquiry has dedicated part of the committee’s final report to cyber-bullying victim ‘Tilly’ Rosewarne.
NSW
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The chair of a sweeping online safety inquiry has dedicated part of the committee’s final report to cyber-bullying suicide victim Tilly Rosewarne, vowing to ensure stories like hers “don’t become the stories of the future”.
Bathurst schoolgirl Matilda “Tilly” Rosewarne, 15, lost her life to suicide in mid-February after years of cyber and schoolyard bullying, as revealed by The Daily Telegraph, which included suicide taunts and having fake nude images circulated on Snapchat.
Her death came halfway through a Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety, which on Tuesday handed down its final report following a three-month investigation.
The committee found social media platforms had “for too long” enabled online abuse and made 26 recommendations, including for social media platforms to be accountable for policing online abuse, as well as the creation of a one-stop shop for victims to report online abuse.
Committee chair Lucy Wicks MP dedicated the foreword of the inquiry’s final report to Tilly, saying her story highlighted the urgent need for change.
“Tragically, Tilly Rosewarne passed after suffering horrible online harm that no person should ever have to endure,” she wrote.
“Tilly’s story mirrors that of too many others and is why this inquiry is so important, timely and urgent. Things must change.”
Ms Wicks said a conversation she had with Tilly’s mother Emma Mason last week, along with interviews with the inquiry’s 60 witnesses, helped inform the committee’s final recommendations.
“Tilly’s story in The Daily Telegraph, as well as the many public hearings, helped frame the recommendations to ensure that the stories of the past that we have heard, are not the stories of the future,” she said.
Ms Wicks said she “hopes” the recommendations will help prevent deaths like Tilly’s from happening in the future.
“We don’t want another story like the stories that we’ve heard in this inquiry happened again, and we need to do all we can to keep Australians safe online,” she said.
Ms Mason said that some of the recommendations, if enacted, could “be a real tool to protect victims of online bullying and may give kids like Tilly the strength to keep going.”
She believes some of the recommendations could have helped in circumstances such as Tilly’s, where the nude images were reported to police and the school but both institutions, she claims, met dead ends because they were unable to confirm the identity of the bully.
Neither authority recommended she contact the eSafety Commissioner, who has the power to investigate online abuse, remove content, force users to stop the bullying and even fine them up to $55,000 for not removing content.
Some of the inquiry’s recommendations include for the eSafety Commissioner introducing a single point of entry for victims to report abuse and for law enforcement to be trained in responding to online harm, including the role of the Commissioner.
The report also recommended funding for counselling services for online abuse victims, online safety education for young people, particularly around the eSafety Commissioner’s ability to remove content, and requiring Big Tech to enforce its own safety standards.
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