Ad boycott urged to tackle cyberbullying

The father of cyberbullying victim Ciara Pugsley has warned that a boycott by advertisers is the only way that social networking sites will take bullying seriously.

Jonathan Pugsley was referring to Ask.fm which allows users to send anonymous messages to other users and has been linked to a spate of teen suicides including that of his daughter. Amongst the high-profile brands whose ads appear on the Latvian-based website are the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Facebook, Spotify, and Setanta Sports.

Ask.fm attracts at least €18,500 a day or nearly €6m a year in advertising revenue through its 60m registered users worldwide.