Asking Ask.fm for answers, not getting very far
Ask us anything, the Ask.fm slogan invites. Easier said than done.
The controversial social networking site that moved to Ireland two years ago to start afresh under new ownership after a series of online bullying tragedies, changed ownership again last month and the latest owners donât seem to have got the memo about being open to questions.
A series of phone calls and emails to offices and individuals connected with the company in five countries over the past two weeks yielded just one live conversation with someone directly involved.
It was with a businessman in Ukraine who is one of the firmâs two newly appointed directors and whose first concern was that someone had managed to get his private mobile number.
At least Maksym Tsaryk had the decency to laugh when informed that his privacy had been betrayed by an online networking site although, given the line of business heâs in, it would have been churlish to react otherwise.
Apart from a well-used line about commitments to the safety of Ask.fmâs users, however, he wasnât able to answer questions about the company.
Ask.fm first came to prominence after a number of suicides by teenagers in 2012 in Ireland, Britain, and the US. Later, another suicide in Belgium joined the list, which now extends to at least nine.
It emerged that the teens had been trolled on the site by anonymous users who belittled, humiliated, threatened, and distressed them. There may well have been many other factors in their decision to take their lives but the links to Ask.fm were worth exploring.
At the time, the site was owned by Latvian brothers, Mark and Ilja Terebin, who set it up in 2010 and whose attitude to grieving parents and others who challenged the way their site was run was unsympathetic.
Two years later, after some half-hearted reforms, the brothers sold the site and access to their reputed 180m users to IAC (InterActiveCorp), a US based corporation that owns sites such as Tinder, OkCupid, and Match.com.
It was also announced that it was moving its headquarters to Ireland and Ask.fm Europe registered here, although its subsidiary, Ask.fm SIA, responsible for the day to day operations of the site, remained in Latvia.
It caused a stir in political circles that an outfit with such a poor reputation would be officially listed as an Irish company.
But IAC senior executive Doug Leeds, who became its CEO, with his all-American dad meets hip business dude persona, along with the recruitment of safety advisors and assurances about monitoring of content, helped rehabilitate the brand somewhat.
How the company performed financially is not so clear. According to some industry analysts, the user base is down to 150m which is still a lot but individual visits to the site per month may have fallen substantially.
According to the only set of annual returns filed with the Companies Office in late June this year and covering the period from October 2014 to the end of last year, Ask.fm Europe is loss-making.
It made âŹ10.7m in that period, primarily from advertising, but after operating costs, it lost âŹ7.1m.
Looking at current pages on the site, the advertising model seems odd. Promotions are for the new Ford Ranger utility vehicle, the Open University and some online sports channels â none likely to feature in your average 15-year-old girlâs shopping list.
During the period covered by the returns, the company had just three employees and four directors in Ireland. The Latvia operation employs about 70.
The directors in their report acknowledged the losses and said that in April, they had entered into a workforce reduction programme. It is not clear whether anyone is actually employed in Ireland now.
Interestingly, the directors said they had received written confirmation from IAC that financial support would continue to be provided for at least 12 months.
Two weeks later, the company was sold to Noosphere Ventures, a California based venture capital company.
The directors resigned and were initially replaced by just one, Laura Edison, also known as Laura Archbold, a solicitor in Scotland.
She used to work as legal officer at web dating site Cupic Plc where Maksym Tsaryk, who joined the company a few weeks ago, was also employed when he resided in Britain.
Noosphere did not reply to queries but passed them on to Ms Edison without explaining that they had done so. Her office only acknowledged this when the Irish Examiner contacted her separately some days later.
Mr Tsaryk referred queries to Noosphere. The solicitors firm that acts on Ask.fm Europeâs behalf here passed the queries on to Ms Edison.
Two safety advisors who have worked with the company suggested contacting its British public relations agency. That had been the first port of call two weeks earlier but the agency hasnât represented the company since the take-over.
Whenever a company changes hands, there is undoubtedly a period of flux but when a company has struggled with reputational issues, it does not help its cause that no one appears willing or able to speak for it.
It finally released a statement last Friday which doesnât address questions about the status of the Irish operation but focuses on the companyâs anti-bullying policies.
Itâs not just the legacy issues Ask.fm has to worry about. Last year, concerns emerged that it was being used by Islamic State (IS) to target potential recruits.
With a cursory check, it is easy enough to find exchanges about IS but they are quite reasoned discussions. However the US State Department was worried enough to create its own accounts on the site to counter any propaganda.
Then there is the ongoing concern about the very raison dâetre of Ask.fm and the nature of much of the conversation it attracts.
It has toned down somewhat as certain key words will spark the intervention of a moderator. It should not be possible to tell another user to go kill themselves, as happened in the past.
But there is still a steady stream of questions and comments designed to provoke, to cause rows, and to upset.
Typically, it starts with a user being asked anonymously to rate the girls in their class in terms of prettiness, or the boys in terms of soundness, or the boys/girls they would or wouldnât âmeetâ. âTo meetâ generally means a snogging session, although in some circles it indicates more intimate physical encounters.
Woe betide the respondent who includes or omits or rates too highly or lowly the wrong person, although who that wrong person might be is anyoneâs guess depending on current levels of popularity and the malice of the questioner.
These rating sessions frequently lead to accusations of betrayal, two-facedness, sluttiness, frigidity, or just general idiocy and worthlessness.
Why would anyone want to engage with these cruel games? Curiosity and wanting to do what everyone else appears to be doing obviously plays its part.
When friendly users come to the defence of one who is under attack, they too can face a barrage of abuse.
When users decide theyâve had enough and stop answering questions, or close their account, they are bad-mouthed in their absence.
Itâs exhausting just reading some of the exchanges; taking part in them must be completely demoralising for some users.
The family of 15-year-old Ciara Pugsley from Co Leitrim believe she was taunted on the site before she died in September 2012 and her father, Jonathan stated unequivocally that Ask.fm should be shut down.
Her death was reported as suicide, although an open verdict was recorded at her inquest in November 2014.
A month after Ciara died, 13-year-old Erin Gallagher from Co Donegal took her own life. Her mother, Lorraine, said she left a suicide note in which she attributed at least some of her distress to bullying on ask.fm.
Six weeks later, the Gallagher family suffered an almost unbelievable second tragedy when Erinâs grief-stricken sister, 15-year-old Shannon, also took her life.
Erinâs inquest is scheduled to take place next Wednesday and it is expected her mother will give evidence, but inquests can be quite limited in the background detail they hear, as their function is determine how, when, and where a death took place.
Ask.fm may or not be mentioned during the hearing, and the company did not clarify if it would have any representative in attendance, but it will be linked in the public mind to the proceedings.
Brian OâNeill, a member of the advisory board of the Department of Justiceâs Office for Internet Safety joined Ask.fmâs external team of international safety advisors last year.
The team receive expenses but are independent, meeting quarterly by conference call. Prof OâNeill said the best industry expertise had gone into the site since the IAC takeover.
âThere was a complete interface overhaul and reporting tools, responsiveness to queries, training of safety personnel, quality of moderation has all improved tremendously,â he said.
âGiven the nature of any online environment,you never absolutely eliminate the potential for something like bullying which is the main issue Ask.fm has had to deal with but you put in place the various kind of protections to try to ensure it doesnât happen.â
Prof OâNeill said he had received notification of the Noosphere takeover but hadnât met the new owners.
âIâll be very interested to see that they follow up on the promises made by their predecessors,â he said.
In last Fridayâs statement, Ms Edison said: âThe upcoming inquest into the tragic death of Erin Gallagher is a timely reminder of the heart-breaking effects bullying can have.
âBullying is no longer something that only takes place on the school yard and streets. The availability and use of internet enabled devices provides a wider setting for bullying and harassment.
âWhile it is impossible to eradicate these destructive behaviours, Ask.fm has been working hard to reduce the instances of bullying and harassment on its platform.
âThe new owners are taking further steps to increase the safety awareness aspects including accepting an invitation to join the EC Alliance on protecting minors online and continuing to work with a very experienced safety advisory board whose sole aim is to address issues of user safety.
âIn addition we are evaluating our management and personnel, and making further improvements by adding experienced managers to our team.
âAsk.fm works closely and constantly with enforcement agencies who investigate online bullying and regularly assist these agencies including the Gardai unmask the perpetrators of online crimes who have sought to hide their identities.
âIt remains a priority of Ask.fm to ensure that those who commit crimes online are investigated and prosecuted.
âOur thoughts will be with Erin Gallagherâs mother and family during the inquest.â
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