Mother of B.C. teen who died calls out dangerous social media algorithms pushing harm

Chelsey Whittingham speaks during an emotional news conference on June 29, 2026.

VANCOUVER — The mother of a 13-year-old girl from British Columbia who died after her family says social media repeatedly pushed harmful content onto her feed, is calling for regulation of self-harm and suicide-promoting content targeting minors.

Chelsey Whittingham says parental controls alone are no match for the powerful algorithms directed at vulnerable children, exposing them to emotionally harmful and dangerous content without their families’ knowledge.

Her daughter, Maddy Croswell, died last September and Whittingham told a news conference that the teen was kind and loving and deserved to be protected.

Whittingham says she’s “encouraged” by the federal government’s proposed social media bill, but Canada needs greater transparency around online age verification and independent oversight of social media platforms.

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma was also at the news conference and praised a move by Australia’s government to increase the maximum penalty for breaches of its social media age law to $99 million, or about $96.8 million Canadian.

She says that penalty is “enough to get the attention” of for-profit companies and children in Canada shouldn’t have to wait to be protected while Canada’s new laws go through Parliament.

Whittingham says both parents and children need to be educated on how to protect young people.

“These platforms are designed to maximize kids’ time and attention online. Parents should be educated on how to effectively set time limits, monitor children’s use and disable the collection of data and algorithmic recommendations that are targeted to maximizing time online, with no regard to the harms that can be caused,” she said.

“This requires a concerted effort by governments, educators, health-care providers and parents, and the co-operation of the tech companies. It is time for these companies to put people over profits.”

This report by Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press, was first published June 29, 2026.