Mother wins fight to have app used to bully her daughter removed from stores

"My insomnia is a result of messages my daughter received on an app called Sarahah. I’d never heard of it but now I’ve learnt about it, I’m adamant that it needs to be banned," Ms Collins said.

"The app allows users to send 'anonymous feedback' messages to each other. My daughter doesn’t even have the app, yet she still received some of this 'feedback' - and it made me feel sick to the stomach.

"The message called my sweet, beautiful young daughter a 'bitch' and continued: 'I hope SHE KILLS HERSELF. Seriously nobody will care'.

"I’ve read these words over and over and can’t get them out of my head. The sender knew my daughter would see this message about her. How could anyone be so cruel, so cold, so callous?"

Ms Collins' Change.org petition attracted more than 450,000 signatures.

She also received a flood of messages from people who had had similar cyberbullying experiences, with some saying the hurtful messages had also been sent through the Sarahah app.

"I was just so surprised it (the petition) got some many signatures and got Apple and Google to remove the app," Ms Collins said.

"I think it touched a raw note with people ... especially after everything that happened with Dolly."

While Apple never directly contacted Ms Collins, another journalist researching the app contacted her a few weeks after the petition had launched, saying they couldn't find it in the App Store.

A few weeks later, Change.org, which had been helping Ms Collins liaise with Google regarding Sarahah, noticed the app had also disappeared from the Google Store.

"I was shocked, I didn’t think we would get to that point honestly," Ms Collins said.

"They’re big companies and I didn’t think this whole thing through. I did it on a whim and was shocked by the whole thing.

"Our purpose was to stop the same thing from happening to another child with no voice.

"I like to think I’ve proven that one person can make a difference and make a change."

Sarahah claims its filtering systems should have intercepted messages containing offensive language, but Ms Collins has screenshots proving otherwise.
Photo: Supplied

Sarahah CEO Zain-Alabdin Tawfiq said he shared Ms Collins' concerns and had implemented new measures in the hope of preventing the app from being used for cyberbullying ever again.

"Sarahah would like to assure all its users that the prevention of misuse of its services is always paramount in our operations," he said.

"We strongly share the parents' concern over their children’s possible exposure to unwanted messages. Therefore, we have limited the registration in Sarahah to 17 years of age or more.

"We have also put in place extremely advanced filtering techniques that detect unwanted words and phrases and immediately delete any messages that contain such words.

"We took the case mentioned in the petition at Change.org very seriously and as soon as it came to our knowledge, we tested our system using a similar message to the one that was mentioned in the petition.

"Our system has detected the use of obscene language and deleted the test message right away.

"However, we did not stop at that and advanced the introduction of previously planned enhancements to our system using state-of-the-art techniques that provide the highest level of protection available."

Ms Collins said the filters weren't doing their job properly and has sent Sarahah the full screenshots which she said clearly showed the app's logo with the hurtful messages.

Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson told Fairfax Media they work closely with app developers to ensure their products are in-line with Google policies.

"While we don’t comment on specific apps, our Google Play policies are designed to provide a great experience for users.

"We always do our best to work closely with developers to ensure they're in compliance with our policies."