We’ve just heard from Mariano Janin, the father of 14-year-old Mia Janin, who took her own life back in March 2021.Janin tells Kuenssberg that he beli
We’ve just heard from Mariano Janin, the father of 14-year-old Mia Janin, who took her own life back in March 2021.
Janin tells Kuenssberg that he believes his daughter was being cyber-bullied on social media by classmates, something he and his wife had no idea about. He is now using his platform to advocate for new cyberbullying laws to be made that can more effectively tackle the issue affecting young people globally.
When asked by Kuenssberg about what role social media played in his daughter’s death, Janin replied by saying how hard it is for young people these days, as the online world is “Unfortunately … a part of our kids’ generation”.
In the UK, there is no specific law on bullying or cyber-bullying and the courts rely on other legislation around harassment and malicious communications.
But Janin says that he sees the new Online Safety Bill, which came into law in October 2023 and aims to improve child safety on the internet, as a “first step in order to get real change”.
“I think we need to do something against bullying. We need to revise the existing legislation around bullying, try to understand, try to act, try to do something,” he adds.
Continue reading more about Janin’s advocacy work here.
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