Mother of Frankie Thomas wants answers from tech firms over daughter's death

A parent said she was near "in the wilderness" trying to find retired accusation from tech companies aft her girl took her ain life.

Judy Thomas's 15-year-old kid Frankie died 5 years agone aft viewing self-harm worldly online.

The household repeatedly tried to get accusation and were near "absolutely astatine a loss," she told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

She and different bereaved families are campaigning for a alteration successful the law.

They privation an amendment to the Online Safety Bill going done Parliament, which would let families and coroners to enlist the enactment of the regulator Ofcom successful helping them to get much accusation from tech companies astir the worldly their children were accessing anterior to their deaths.

Frankie, who had autism, was recovered dormant astatine her location successful Witley successful Surrey successful September 2018.

An inquest heard she had taken her ain life, aft spending months viewing graphic contented astir termination and self-harm connected schoolhouse laptops and iPads.

Ms Thomas told the programme the household had had "no thought wherefore Frankie had taken her ain life".

At a nonaccomplishment to recognize why, she had past contacted tech companies.

"We wrote online to Instagram. This went connected for astir a twelvemonth with nary answers.

"We wanted to talk to idiosyncratic and conscionable say, would you assistance us? We were devastated... we conscionable wanted to know."

Ms Thomas added: "We would person truly appreciated the platforms coming to the inquest arsenic they were requested to."

Baroness Beeban Kidron, the online information campaigner, is moving with the bereaved families, successful calling for the amendment.

The radical - which besides includes the begetter of Molly Russell, who besides died aft viewing termination contented online - has written to the premier minister, justness secretary, and caput of authorities for subject and exertion calling for the instrumentality to beryllium changed.

Baroness Kidron said determination needed to beryllium "a due ceremonial way for parents and for coroners to get the benignant of accusation we request to see."

She told the programme the inquest into Frankie's decease "opened and closed" without each the accusation the household needed.

"My inbox is afloat of bereaved families who privation entree to data.

"The coroner work has not managed to get that information, families person not managed to get that information.

"It is inhuman, and the benignant of distress that is happening each of these years aboriginal is unacceptable."

Under the amendment families and the coroner work could interaction Ofcom who would past enactment to let them to legally get the accusation they request from tech companies and portion unneurotic what happened.

She said the amendment had enactment crossed the Lords and the Commons.

The missive sent to the authorities - and seen by the BBC - says: "We person each mislaid a kid successful circumstances relating to the integer world, and we person each struggled to summation accusation we needed to recognize much astir their deaths. Sadly, each year, determination are hundreds of families who find themselves successful likewise distressing circumstances.

"The process of attempting to entree information has been inhumane. In immoderate cases, it has taken years, and we person been near successful automated loops, speaking to online bots, arsenic though we were contacting mislaid property."

Lawyers for Molly Russell's begetter Ian person besides written to the authorities saying determination is still, adjacent 5 years later, accusation Meta has not provided to them relating to her death.

They say: "Meta for example, ne'er disclosed records of what contented was promoted to Molly connected Instagram; they disclosed immoderate of the harmful contented Molly saved oregon liked lone weeks earlier the last inquest; and the archetypal disclosure was provided successful a mode wholly inaccessible to Molly's family."

The families volition beryllium successful Parliament this week pressing their case.

Meta, who owns Instagram - 1 of the sites accessed by Frankie - said it has been successful interaction with her family.

A spokesperson said: "This is simply a challenging and analyzable issue. We person been successful interaction with the household and we privation to assistance arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin during this time."

The inquest into Frankie's decease heard she went connected a level called Wattpad wherever users tin constitute and stock stories, with the past portion she work mirroring the method she utilized to instrumentality her ain beingness that afternoon.

The coroner successful Frankie's decease said the failures of her schoolhouse to forestall her accessing harmful worldly and Wattpad "more than minimally contributed" to her death.

Wattpad said it sent a robust witnesser connection to the coroner.