Website founder: I’m not to blame for suicides

The founder of a website implicated in the suicides of two young Irish girls has insisted he is in no way responsible for what happened.

In a statement five days after the death of 13-year-old Erin Gallagher, who lost her life after being targeted by cyberbullies, ask.fm founder Mark Terebin said society was to blame for the fatalities.

The dot.com businessman, from Riga in Latvia, did not address repeated concerns about the lack of monitoring on his site and the fact that random users can still anonymously post abusive messages on other users’ profiles. Both of these issues have been flagged by experts as playing a central role in the failure to prevent the cyberbullying of Erin, and Ciara Pugsley, a 15-year-old from Leitrim, who died last month after being targeted on the same site.

However, Mr Terebin said society as a whole was to blame. He claimed that while the incidents were tragic, widespread coverage of the deaths was because media firms “want scandals, they want sensations and finally they want money”.

“Mass media is knocking on wrong door. It is necessary to go deeper and to find a root of a problem. It’s not about the site, the problem is about education, about moral values that were devaluated [sic] lately,” the ask.fm founder said.

“www.ask.fm is just a tool which helps people to communicate with each other, same as any other social network, same as phone [sic], same as piece of paper and pen [sic].

“Don’t blame a tool, but try to make changes… start with yourself... be more polite, more kind, more tolerant of others… cultivate these values in families, in schools.

“Suicide is not something to encourage via mass media. The more you promote suicide, the more it happen [sic].

“Do you think mass media cares? They want scandals, they want sensations, and finally they want money. Sorry, but we do not want to participate in it. What happened is a true tragedy and we give our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and relatives,” the response ended.

Mr Terebin’s comments were sent to Irish film-maker Lynne Nolan as part of a documentary she is making on cyberbullying and the two teens’ tragic deaths.

Turn the Tide of Suicide (3Ts) founder, Noel Smyth, said: “We’re dealing with someone who is essentially not subject to any laws. The Government or a department must get on to this injustice and create a Suicide Authority that has the right to block sites.

* 3Ts 24/7 suicide prevention helpline: 1800-247-100.

* HSE suicide prevention helpline: 1800-742745.

* Childline: 1800-666-656.