To: Doug Leeds, CEO, Ask.com
End anonymous comments on Ask.fm to protect the safety of young people online
In the past year, nine teen suicides have been linked to Ask.fm’s anonymous comments. We hold you and Ask.com responsible for ensuring the safety of your user community and ask that you:
* Move quickly to end anonymous comments
* Provide a suicide and self-harm help-line
* Redirect bullying and hostile commenters
* Allow users to flag bullying and hostile comments
* Appoint a teen board to advise and monitor Ask.fm.
Why is this important?
We are a group of teen leaders from Beyond Differences, an organization dedicated to ending social isolation among students in middle school. Social isolation is a growing epidemic that affects young people both in school and online.
Due to the often hateful and derogatory anonymous comments, Ask.fm poses a serious threat to the safety of teens around the world. Ask.fm was recently purchased by Ask.com -- and we believe that Ask.com has an opportunity to display leadership in the effort to make social media safe and inclusive for everyone.
We request that Ask.com change Ask.fm in the following ways:
* Remove the option to post questions or comments anonymously.
* Provide a help-line pop-up when keywords such as “suicide,” “want to die”, “depressed”, or other phrases that may indicate self-harm are entered.
* Provide a positive redirection pop-up whenever bullying, hostile, prejudiced, or harassing comments are about to be submitted.
* Allow users to flag comments as bullying, hostile, prejudiced or harassing and then immediately alert the poster of those comments that someone has flagged their comments and ask the poster to delete them.
* We also ask that a board of teens be appointed and empowered to advise Ask.fm on its privacy and safety policies and monitor the implementation of these changes.
Please sign our petition and make your voice heard.
Jasmine K, Gabi F, Lily M, Brooke C, Jake H, Sophia R, Kaya L, Leela L, Sonali L, Sydney W, Genevieve C, Julia K, Kendra L, Maggie S, Annie A, Emma W, Audrey S, Adam K, Carl H.S., Edyn J, Bailey C, Nina B, Aislinn C, Maggie D, Rose L, Maya R, Abigail S, Sophia S, Sinead S