Brianna Ghey's mother criticises government over online safety

Campaigner Esther Ghey has told the BBC she is "frustrated" at the government's approach to online safety, warning that "young people are losing their lives".

Ms Ghey's child Brianna, 16, was murdered in February 2023 by two 15-year-olds, one of whom had been watching violent content online. Brianna herself had viewed material that encouraged self-harm.

Her comments came amid reports that the Online Safety Bill - part of which came into force in March - could be watered down in a bid to secure favourable trade terms with US President Donald Trump, a suggestion Ms Ghey described as "shocking".

A government minister said the protections already in law were "not up for negotiation".

Eddie Ratcliffe and Scarlett Jenkinson lured Brianna to a park in Warrington, Cheshire, before stabbing her to death. Both received life sentences in February 2024.

The pair had a fascination with violence, torture and murder, and had planned the killing for weeks using a messaging app.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Ghey said of the Online Safety Bill: "While we are... questioning whether it's strong enough or whether it should be watered down, young people are at harm, and young people are losing their lives."

She was speaking in support of the new Behind Our Screens campaign to encourage young people to share their experiences online.

Ms Ghey, who has called for children under 16 to stop having access to social media on smartphones, has previously met the prime minister to discuss online safety but called on him to take a tougher approach.

She told the BBC: "Young people shouldn't be struggling with mental health because of what they are accessing online, and we really do need to take a hard stance on this."

She said she supported a "blanket ban" on smartphones in schools in England.

Roxy Longworth, who spoke to the BBC alongside Ms Ghey, was coerced into sending nude pictures to a boy at school when she was just 13, and subsequently experienced serious mental health problems.

Ms Longworth said she wanted to bridge the growing "generation gap" around social media.

"A lot of young people I've spoken to have said that they're scared to tell their parents about anything they see online, because they're worried their phones will be taken away as punishment," she said.

A government spokesperson said the Online Safety Act means online platforms "must now prevent illegal material appearing on their sites" and that the bill's next phase will "ensure children only see age-appropriate content online".

They added: "We have commissioned research on the impact of social media and smartphones on children's well-being.

"This evidence base will help inform next steps in the safety of children online."

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones was asked about whether the further measures being considered might be watered down to secure a trade deal with the US.

He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the Online Safety Act was "not negotiable, because it's the principle that if it's illegal offline, it should be illegal online".

Jones added: "Where there is harmful content online, especially where it's targeted at children, these social platforms need to be designed in a way that protects children from that harm. We won't be walking away from that."

Elsewhere in the interview, Ms Ghey said she would now consider Emma Jenkinson, the mother of one of Brianna's killers, "a friend", having first met her in March last year.

"I really appreciate Emma," she told the programme. "She's just a normal mother and she had no idea what her child was accessing. This is the danger with smartphones.

"I suppose it's helped me in a way. You can make up stories in your own head about the way people are."

Ms Ghey added that meeting Ms Jenkinson "helped me to see that we are both navigating something extremely difficult - and she's lost a child too".