Former Love Island contestant Amy Hart stopped reporting online abuse to social media companies because she doesn’t believe anything will be done.
The 29-year-old, told an inquiry into influencer culture that she did not believe sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were supportive enough when it came to trolling.
The former British Airways air stewardess, shared her personal experience in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Hart recounted the abuse she regularly receives online and raised concerns over the number of abusive private messages sent to her that did not breach the sites’ community guidelines.
She said: “I am desensitised but I would say that the (social media) networks are not supportive enough when it comes to trolling.
“I have reported some messages before and they come back saying, ‘We have looked at it and it doesn’t break community guidelines’ and I am like, ‘Look at that message!’
“Look at this barrage of messages someone has sent me before 7 o’clock in the morning telling me how much they hate me, how awful I am, why everyone hates me, how ugly I am.
“From a fake account as well, a trolling account, a burner account, and you are telling me that doesn’t break policy?”
Hart said she was getting trolled by people who said they are nurses and “people that have got husbands and children”.
One death threat was even traced back to a 13-year-old.
She added: “I delete things, but you see those messages and actually I have probably stopped reporting them now because I know there is no point.
“Because the time it takes me the process of doing: ‘Why are you reporting this message?’ and then it comes back a few hours later with a notification that says, ‘We have checked it and it doesn’t break community guidelines’.”
The former Islander also dismissed the idea being an influencer was not a legitimate career, telling the inquiry: “I used to think it wasn’t a proper job either and it really, really is.”
Hart suggested that posts tagged as adverts were seen by less followers and that she would be willing to pay to use the social media networks “in exchange for a fairer algorithm”.
She also called for a standardised pricing structure which would look at how many followers and the level of engagement an influencer to decide their work with brands.
Nicole Ocran, a blogger and co-founder of The Creator Union, which advocates for digital creators, appeared alongside Hart.
Ocran told the inquiry her union had reached out to social media networks including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram but had only heard back from image sharing site Pinterest.
Speaking about trolling, she said: “From our perspective the platforms do not move fast enough – the don’t move at all.”
On Twitter, users should not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to, and the site can limit the ability to post or suspend an account temporarily or permanently.
Instagram and Facebook have both set out rules on “violating messages” where users can restrict messages and disable accounts to protect themselves.
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have been contacted for comment.
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