‘If you don’t care, you’ll end up without a child’: Mum’s grave warning after losing son to social media bullying

A mother who lost her son after he took his life following severe social media bullying has revealed her touching tribute to him, as Australia’s new social media ban for kids under 16 kicks in.

A mum who lost her son to suicide after he was bullied online has revealed her touching tribute to his life, while delivering a stark warning to any parent who attempts to help their child get around Australia’s historic social media ban.

Mia Bannister has faced pain no parent should ever have to go through, with her “divine” son Ollie taking his own life on December 9, 2023 at just age 14 after battling anorexia and online bullies.

She had one thing to say to parents who don’t embrace the world-first ban, which came into effect on Wednesday.

“If you don’t care, you’ll end up without a child,” Ms Bannister told the Newswire.

“It’s pretty simple and eventually it will catch up to them. It will affect their mental health.”

The landmark legislation requires platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok to introduce age restrictions and take reasonable steps to stop children accessing their sites.

Mia Bannister, left, with Emma Mason. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The move is set to “change the entire world” according to campaigner Emma Mason, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Tilly to suicide after she was targeted by online bullies.

“It’s the biggest social reform since giving women the vote,“ she said.

Ms Mason described those who opposed the ban or said it won’t work as “repugnant”.

“The naysayers are going to be naysayers, and the haters are going to hate, hate, hate, but at the end of the day, this is Australian law, and it’s never going to be perfect … and you don’t judge success on day one or day seven,” she said.

Reports children circumventing social media ban

Almost as soon as the ban came into effect, reports began to emerge of teens circumventing the new restrictions.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she was confident the technologies underpinning the ban “can and will work”.

“These isolated cases of teenage creativity, circumvention, spoofing, and other ingenious ways people will inevitably push boundaries, will continue to fill newspaper pages, but we won’t be detoured,” she said.

Ms Inman Grant joined Anthony Albanese, Communications Minister Anika Wells, and advocates at Kirribilli House in Sydney on Wednesday to launch the ban.

The Prime Minister acknowledged some young people may struggle with the transition considering the addictive power of social media.

Ms Bannister’s three tattoos she had in honour of her son: a hummingbird, Ollie’s name, and an image of him as a toddler. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire

“It’ll be a difficult period, but it is in the interest of young Australians, and it’s in the interests of parents as well … it won’t be perfect but tell you what it will save lives and it will make a difference,” he said.

Ms Mason said that though there will “always be children that get around” age-restrictions, whether that’s social media or alcohol, but that was besides the point of the law.

“You have to have the guardrails,” she said.

“Might I say there’s a law that says you can’t murder in Australia, but it happens.”

Touching tribute for beloved son

For Ms Bannister, the new laws are tools that parents can use to keep their kids safe.

“Ollie was on all these platforms, and I’m a full time working mum trying to keep a roof over our heads and you’re trying to keep up with the tech but you can’t. You just can’t,” she said

She proudly showed off three tattoos she had in honour of her son: a hummingbird, Ollie’s name, and an image of him as a toddler.

“It is of Ollie and him standing on a box throwing paper planes in a field when he was three, and we’re together,” she said.

Despite the “emotional” day, Ms Bannister allowed a “glint of humour” she shared with Ollie shine through.

“People say to me all the time, ‘How would Oli feel about being immortalised on his mother’s body?’ And I can tell you now, he would say, ‘Wear sleeves, mum’,” she said with a chuckle.

Cassandra has embraced the social media ban with open arms, but her son Ethan is not as pleased. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire

Parents, kids react to social media ban

Aussies have spoken out after children under 16 were booted from a string of platforms in a world-first step to safeguard them from harm.

Children under the age of 16 will lose access to several social media apps including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter), Kick, Facebook and Reddit.

From midnight, accounts suspected of being operated by a user under 16 will be suspended unless they can provide ID verification.

Parents, guardians and children who fail to adhere to the ban will not face any consequences.

As part of the ban, platforms will be required to take reasonable steps to stop children from having accounts.

Tech companies that refuse to comply could face a fine of up to $49.5m.

Ms Bannister said she had already been contacted by friends whose children are reaping the benefits of the ban.

“I had a text message today from a friend of mine and her daughter said to her this morning, ‘Mum, I’m so glad to be off Snapchat, I feel free,” she said.

“I felt like bawling as soon as I read the message.”

Parents now had the “power of the law” behind them when it came to protecting their kids from the dangers of social media according to Ms Mason.

“This gives parents the ability to say: ‘No you can’t drink, it’s illegal. You can’t have ciggies, it’s illegal. You can’t use social media, it’s illegal’,” she said.

Mum Cassandra Smith, who has three children under 16, said she was “very happy” with the world-first social media ban.

“I find setting boundaries and understanding all the platforms really confusing, and I think this simplifies it all,” she told NewsWire.

She said the restrictions would also reduce “friction between parents and children” and stop them from “butting heads”.

“The boundaries are simplified … it’s not butting heads all the time because it’s a simple, outright ban,” she said.

“So all the timing, what they can be watching and sitting over them, trying to understand everything, will be taken out of it.”

Her 10-year-old son, Ethan, wasn’t overly pleased with the ban, but ceded it would benefit other kids his age.

“I … think that it’s a bit annoying, because now I can’t really watch anything, but I do think that it’s a bit beneficial for the minds of people under 16,” he said.

Now unable to access YouTube – the only social media platform he uses – he said he would instead spend more time outside with his friends.

“I’ll probably go to the park,” he said.

Jenna (left) and Emma (right) said the social media ban was “ineffective”. Picture: NewsWire

‘Disappointed’ teens lose access to YouTube

Ms Smith said her eldest son, aged 12, was also disappointed to lose access to YouTube on Wednesday morning, but his mood shifted once he realised he could still access some platforms not featured on the list.

“My eldest son just this morning set up a YouTube Kids account, and has already researched and had a quick look and he’s like, ‘Oh, actually this might not be so bad’, because Mr Beast and Jaden Animations and a couple of the people that he enjoys is still on YouTube Kids,” she said.

“The kids will adjust.”

The world-first ban has sparked mixed reactions from teenagers, who argued it would not be enough to prevent young people from accessing social media.

“I think the social media ban is quite ineffective,” Jenna, 15, told NewsWire.

She claimed the age restriction of 16 was “too high”.

Friend Emma, aged 14, does not have social media accounts, but said other teenagers had already tried to circumvent the rules.

“I’ve seen lots of people work around it and I don’t think that the ban is very effective,” she said.

She said the decision to ban social media should be take out of the hands of the government, and instead left to the parents.

“I think the government should (allow) parents to decide whether social media is beneficial for their kids and give it more as a guide for students to decide for themselves whether they think social media is beneficial,” she told NewsWire.

Originally published as ‘If you don’t care, you’ll end up without a child’: Mum’s grave warning after losing son to social media bullying