Brianna Ghey's brave mother reveals her five-point plan to protect children from online harms - as she vows 'if I can make things better for young people with their mental health then Brianna's death wasn't for nothing'
Brianna Ghey's mother has revealed her five-point plan to protect children from online harms after her daughter was tragically stabbed to death by two torture-obsessed teenagers.
Esther Ghey described the online world as 'toxic' as she campaigns to hold big tech companies to account after her daughter was murdered last February.
Brianna, a 16-year-old transgender schoolgirl, was stabbed 28 times after going to meet Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe at Culcheth Linear park in Warrington.
The trial heard how Jenkinson, who was 15 at the time, was able to access twisted videos of the torture and murder of real people before she and Ratcliffe murdered Brianna.
Jenkinson also sent 'dehumanising' messages over Snapchat and WhatsApp in which she described Brianna as 'it'.
Brianna's mother has been subjected to cruel trolling online herself, including one message she received on Facebook which said: 'Your son died because of you. You are a failure.'
Esther Ghey (pictured) described the online world as 'toxic' as she campaigns to hold big tech companies to account after her daughter was murdered last February.
Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe on Saturday 11 February 2023
The killers were unmasked earlier this year after both being jailed for the murder of Brianna
Ms Ghey reported it to the police but was told that nothing could be done to trace the troll because it would breach privacy laws.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Ms Ghey outlined a five-point social media plan to protect children.
The former food technologist, who has also seen hateful messages appear underneath articles she has written about her daughter, said she has often been told the abusive content she has reported could remain online because it did not breach 'guidelines'.
Ms Ghey now hopes she can help clamp down on harmful online content so 'Brianna's death was not for nothing'.
The first of the five changes Ms Ghey wants to see is to make mobile phone companies sell devices on which monitoring apps with tamper-proof control are already installed.
Having come out as trans at 14, Brianna was 'forced into an online world' during the pandemic and quickly became 'addicted' to her phone and social media.
She gained tens of thousands of followers on TikTok where she posted videos of her applying make-up, dancing and lip-syncing to songs.
But Ms Ghey did not know that Brianna was also accessing sites that showed self-harm videos and eating disorder-related content.
Ms Ghey also wants harmful and concerning search terms to be monitored on phones.
'I had an issue with monitoring her phone when she was here,' she said. 'I really understand how difficult it is. But if I can make things better for young people with their mental health, and make things better for parents, then Brianna's death wasn't for nothing.'
Pictured is 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, who died after being stabbed 28 times last February
Brianna's mother, who also has a 19-year-old day Alisha, hopes that the online world will have changed for the better for her daughter and for her future grandchildren.
Ms Ghey claimed that young people are being isolated behind their screens and are saying things they would not say in real life.
Speaking about the Brianna's killers' obsession with torture, Ms Ghey added: 'What they were exposed to definitely influenced what they did.'
The mother also wants to introduce a public health awareness campaign on the dangers of children spending too much time on their phones, with a recommendation that screen time is limited to two hours a day.
Ms Ghey recently set up a company called Peace & Mind UK in Brianna's honour which is behind a petition to make phone companies more responsible for the welfare of children online. It has amassed more than 115,000 signatures which is over the 100,000 threshold to be considered for debate in Parliament.
Ms Ghey does not believe the Online Safety Act, which became law in September, does not go gar enough.
She insisted that there should be official age verification rather than 'self-verification'.
Ms Ghey's strength in the time of such tragedy as seen her garner an unlikely supporter in Jenkinson's mother, Emma Sutton, who she met with this month
The fourth step Brianna's mother wants to see introduced is to ban children under 13 from joining social media. Last week, legislation was passed into law in Florida that will ban children under 14.
Teenagers aged 14 and 15 will need parental consent to sign up to social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.
In The UK, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all require users to be at least 13 but no official verification is needed to prove your age.
Ms Ghey wants to see technology installed on phones to make it as easy as possible for parents to monitor what their children are doing.
The fifth and final step that Ms Ghey wants to see is to have mindfulness lessons introduced in school.
She met with prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer last month to discuss her campaign.
The campaign has raised £90,000 so far to fund mindfulness training in schools in Warrington, where she is from, but she hopes to see training provided across primary and secondary schools nationwide.
She credits mindfulness, which she started eight years ago, for helping her cope with recent events.
Her strength in the time of such tragedy as seen her garner an unlikely supporter in Jenkinson's mother, Emma Sutton, who she met with this month.
Tributes left during a vigil in Golden Square, Warrington, to mark the first anniversary of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey
'We discussed the campaigns and she agreed something needs to change, she said. 'I saw her as another mother who had struggled and I wanted to reach out and let her know I don't blame her.'
Jenkinson and Ratcliffe met Brianna off the bus at 1.53pm on February 11, before they walked towards Culcheth Linear park together.
But one hour and 23 minutes later, the killers spotted calmly walking away from the park without Brianna.
During that window of time, the pair lured her deep into the park where they stabbed her 28 times in a 'frenzied' attack. The pair still blame each other for inflicting the fatal wounds.
Jenkinson was jailed for at least 22 years and Ratcliffe for a minimum of 20 years. The killers, both 16, will be transferred to adult prisons when they turn 18.
