Advertising pulled from ask.fm as backlash over online abuse continues
David Cameron has asked companies and individuals to boycott the social media site, whose anonymous users drove 14-year-old Hannah Smith to commit suicide last week.
A Latvian-based website that saw anonymous users drive 14-year-old Hannah Smith to commit suicide last week, ask.fm, has had several large companies pull their advertising from the site amid backlash and complaints regarding the site.
Vodafone, whose statement can be found here, Specsavers, Laura Ashley, EDF Energy and charity Save the Children have all pulled advertising from ask.fm, a social media site which allows its 60 million+ users to ask and answer questions anonymously.
During a visit to a hospital in Salford, Cameron told Sky News: “The people that operate these websites have got to step up to the plate and show some responsibility in the way that they run these websites.
“Just because someone does something online, it doesn’t mean they’re above the law. If you incite someone to do harm, if you incite violence, that is breaking the law, whether that is online or offline.
Also, there’s something all of us can do as parents and as users of the internet and that is not to use some of these vile sites. Boycott them, don’t go there, don’t join them – we need to do that as well.”
