Mum relives battle to have sickening footage of daughter’s brutal attack taken down from social media after film was shared online and viewed thousands of times
Louise Coplin was forced to watch her daughter's assault daily
A MUM who was forced to relive her daughter's bully attack time and time again after it was shared on Facebook and YouTube has told how she had to desperately battle to try to get the video taken down.
But despite reporting the video 'around 100 times' to the internet giants, Louise Coplin, 34, says Facebook took weeks to eventually remove the shocking footage and it is still available on YouTube to this day.
Both companies say they have very strict polices when it comes to violent videos, but Louise believes much "more needs to be done" to stop cruel bullies sharing filmed attacks online.
Louise, who first reported the video to Facebook after it was uploaded in September, said: "It was really frustrating and really upsetting. It felt like no matter how many times I reported it, it would keep reappearing.
"Even if it was removed from one account, it would be re-uploaded and then shared, shared and shared again."
She added: "Something needs to be done about it, because kids shouldn't be getting away with these things. It's not nice for anyone to see."
Louise, from Tamworth, Staffs, says a video of her 13-year-old daughter, Demmi, being battered by a cruel bully was uploaded to Facebook and shared hundreds of thousands of times.
Despite continually reporting the shocking footage, she says it was about a month before she stopped seeing it on the social media site.
Louise has spoken out as part of The Sun's Block The Bullying campaign, in conjunction with the .
Block The Bullying aims to educate young people about why filming and sharing attacks on social media can be just as damaging to a child as the actual physical assault.
We are also telling teens what to do if they see a bullying video on social media, how parents should react if their child is a victim and we are asking readers to .
Finally we are calling on social media channels to take down any videos showing the bullying of children as soon as they become aware of them.
Speaking about Demmi's experience, she said: "The video was uploaded by a parent, who got it off her friend's daughter, as she thought it was disgusting.
"It got shared and shared and shared. It raised awareness, but it was horrible because I had to see it all the time.
"I couldn't go on Facebook because I would constantly see it."
Louise says she still gets upset when she goes on Facebook as she constantly "sees more videos of kids being beaten up".
She said: "Even after Demmi's was eventually removed, it felt like every time I went on Facebook there would be a new video of another kid and it was just so upsetting.
"I even spoke to police about a video of another girl, but they said there's not much they can do - they can't stop them going on Facebook."
Louise says the video of Demmi was also uploaded to Snapchat and YouTube, and despite reporting it numerous times she has still not been able to get it removed from the later website.
The aims of the campaign are simple:
Firstly: We call on all social media platforms to remove videos of children being physically bullied by other young people as soon as they come to their attention.
Secondly: We are asking for Sun readers - both children and adults - to pledge their support to report the videos if they see them.
Thirdly: We aim to educate children as to why they should never film and share incidents of bullying and the damage it can cause the victims and to themselves.
Fourthly: We want to offer parents an easy step by step guide to help them cope if their children have been victims of cyber bullying.
She said: "I reported it to YouTube, and asked other people I know to do the same, but it's still there.
"They haven't come back to me. It's still there and I want it taken down from everywhere, so I don't have to see it anymore."
Demmi was attacked by the girl - who she believed to be her friend - as they walked home from school.
Louise says: "It was over tittle-tat. The girl who attacked her is a couple of years older at school and Demmi thought they were friends.
"They walked home together that day as normal and she told Demmi to turn around before pushing her to the floor.
"There were five boys there who knew it was going to happen and they all got their phones out to record."
Demmi was taken to hospital after the attack with big lumps all over her head, clumps of hair missing and a suspected broken nose.
She also suffered multiple cuts and bruises to her face and body in the vicious attack.
Despite the attack being filmed and shared, Louise says police were unable to do anything about it.
She said: "We feel like nothing is happening, even to this day. The police dropped the charges completely.
"They're not getting records, it's not going to court - it was just held with the youth offenders but the kids are still out there."
How to tackle bullying videos on social media
Brutal videos of children beating up other children are becoming more common by the day. But what should you do if you see one pop up on your social media feed? And worse still, what should you do if you discover that your child is a victim of this kind of bullying, or even that they are taking part themselves? It is an incredibly tough position for any parent to be in, so click here for the NSPCC's step by step guide of what to do.
The girl who carried out the attack has since been expelled from school, Louise explains.
She added: "The school have been brilliant, they were really supportive - as were all her friends."
Louise's advice to any parents or children who find themselves in the same situation is to "stay calm and keep off social media".
She said: "I was getting people saying they'd want to go round and sort the kids out if I was them - but I wouldn't do that.
"Demmi just wanted me to support her and leave the police to do their job, so that's what I did."
The Sun Online has pledged not to publish any more videos of children being bullied, unless we have express permission from the family or police.
YouTube claim they prohibit content including gratuitous violence, nudity, dangerous and illegal activities, and hate speech and that they review anything that is flagged to them 24 hours a day. But they say they make exceptions if video is on a news channel.
Facebook's general policy is if video like this is being condemned on their site and not glorified, it does not breach their rules. However they say in cases such as this a story may be taken down for privacy reasons.
If you or anyone you know have experienced this kind of bullying email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368