Esther Ghey: Brianna was addicted to social media – teenagers need to be protected from smartphones

Exclusive: The mother of Brianna Ghey is calling for tighter controls on smartphones and access to social media for young people in the wake of her daughter’s murder

The mother of murdered schoolgirl Brianna Ghey says social media use left her daughter addicted to her phone and vulnerable, as she called on the government to do more to protect children from online harm.

Esther Ghey urged mobile phone companies to tighten controls on access to social media apps and unsupervised internet use, as she said the Online Safety Act does not go far enough in safeguarding young people against dangerous online content.

In an exclusive interview with Independent TV, Ms Ghey revealed that her daughter, who was secretly visiting pro-anorexia and self-harm websites, was fixated on her mobile phone and withdrew from family and friends as her mental health deteriorated.