2025-05-03
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Hello, I'm Mark Lowen.
Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
In BBC OS Conversations, we bring people together from around the globe to share their experiences.
This time, it's parents on protecting children from online harm.
Discussions about the best ways to keep children safe online are had so often that it's sometimes easy to forget the total devastation suffered by some families at the heart of the debate.
That's not the case today.
The stories you will hear from three mothers who lost their children are completely devastating.
But their bravery in speaking to us comes from a determination to see change.
Along with hundreds of other families who believe social media played a part in the death of their children,
they recently lobbied Meta, owners of Facebook and Instagram, to demand action.
The mothers I spoke to are Maureen Mollack in the United States and Holly Dance and Ellen Room in the UK.
I should warn you that we discuss suicide and you may find it upsetting.
Maureen began by sharing her story.
Nine years ago, I lost my 16-year-old son, David, to suicide.
After months of relentless and threatening cyberbullying on Instagram was where it started that left him feeling helpless and hopeless.
About a year or so before that, he had a basketball injury.