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A Facebook moderator has for the first time given evidence revealing the mental toll of the job, to a parliamentary committee.

The Irish parliament heard how moderators viewed graphic content up to eight hours a day.

Law firm Foxglove and the Communication Workers Union, representing moderators, called for better psychological support and freedom to speak out.

Facebook said it provides 24 hours support to staff.

Isabella Plunkett has worked as a Facebook content moderator for just over two years, and still works there.

Her job is to review posts on the platform – which can contain graphic violence, exploitation, extremism, abuse and suicide.

The 26-year-old says she could not speak to her friends or family about the things she saw at work due to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which she had signed at the beginning of her contract.

Members of Ireland’s Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, commended her bravery in speaking out.

Isabella also spoke to the BBC
“I’m here speaking out and I don’t actually necessarily know in detail what I’m legally allowed to say and not to say,” she said.

“It was always clear we couldn’t speak about our job, we couldn’t speak about our job to friends, family… and it’s definitely a workplace with a sense of secrecy.”

Facebook told the BBC that NDAs are standard practice and that reviewers can discuss any aspect of their job with doctors and counsellors.

Staff can discuss the general challenges and rewards of their jobs with family and loved ones, but not specific details of the content they are reviewing.

Mental health
“I’ve done the job for two years and I don’t think I could do it for much longer because of the strain it does cause to your mental health,” Isabella told the BBC.

“It’s not like a normal job where you can go to work and go home and forget about it – the stuff you’re seeing is really ingrained in your mind.’”

Isabella processes around 100 “tickets” a day – these can be videos, images or text posts on the platform. She said they often contain graphic violence, suicide, exploitation and abuse.

She works for Covalen, one of Facebook’s largest contractors in Ireland.

Isabella claims she was not allowed to work from home, unlike her counterparts who were employed directly by Facebook who did the same job.

As a result, she says she is exposed to more graphic content, because she is in the office.

‘A nightmare’
“The high priority queues – the graphic violence, the child stuff, the exploitation and the suicides, people working from home don’t get that – the burden is put on us.”

Despite having family shielding at home, she was told to come into the office and developed anxiety, for which she now takes antidepressants.

“Every day was a nightmare,” she said, adding that the support given was “insufficient.”

Facebook says psychological help is available to all its moderators 24 hours a day, but Isabella claims its wellness coaches are not qualified psychiatrists.

“I was seeing the wellness team but didn’t feel I got the support I needed. I can’t say I left work feeling relieved or knowing I could go home and have a good night’s sleep – that’s not possible,” she added.

“It would follow me home. I could just be watching TV at home and think back to one of the horrible, really graphic tickets.”

Sub-contracted staff are given 1.5 hours of “wellness” time a week, she says, which can be used for speaking to a wellness coach, going for walks or taking time out when feeling overwhelmed.

“It’s not enough. I’m now seeing the content I view in work in my dreams. I remember it, I experience it again and it is horrible.

“You never know what is going to come next and you have to watch it the full way through because they might have violators.”

PTSD disclaimer
Some Facebook moderators are asked to sign a disclaimer before starting work, accepting that the content seen in their jobs could lead to poor mental health and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

An example of the contract, read out in the committee said: “I understand that exposure to this content may give me post traumatic stress disorder.

“I will engage in a mandatory wellness coaching session but I understand that those are not conditions and may not be sufficient to prevent my contracting PTSD.”

A Facebook spokeswoman said: “Everyone who reviews content for Facebook goes through an in-depth training programme on Facebook’s Community Standards and has access to psychological support to ensure their wellbeing.

“We are committed to working with our partners to provide support for our content reviewers as we recognise that reviewing certain types of content can sometimes be hard,” she added.

“In Ireland, this includes 24/7 on-site support with trained practitioners, an on-call service, and access to private healthcare from the first day of employment.

“We are also employing technical solutions to limit their exposure to potentially graphic material as much as possible. This is an important issue, and we are committed to getting this right.”

Technical solutions
Facebook uses a combination of machine learning algorithms and human moderators to review content.

In future, it hopes to reduce the number of human moderators through machine learning.

But Isabella said this was a Facebook “fantasy”, that systems were “not even near that stage”.

Speaking to the committee, Isabella said “people are intimidated” by the NDA process and afraid of losing their jobs.

She cited an internal communications platform on Facebook, in which workers’ posts were deleted when speaking up. Facebook denied these claims and said no disciplinary action is taken for employees raising concerns.

“People complained about the treatment and what was going on and how they felt unsafe,” Isabella told the committee. “It was clear that it was being censored because people’s comments were being deleted, accounts were being disabled.”

She said her experience drove her to give evidence: “I just had such a feeling that I needed to do it,” she added in her testimony. “I need to speak for the people that are too afraid, that feel they have too many responsibilities, and they can’t afford to take any risks.”

England’s NHS app will be available to use as a vaccine passport from Monday, the government has said – but only for those who have had both doses of the jab.

A paper version will also be available – by calling 119 but not through a GP.

Both will be available from Monday, 17 May, when the ban on foreign travel is eased.

The NHS app is separate to the NHS Covid-19 app, which is used for contact tracing.

People can already use the NHS app to:

request repeat prescriptions
arrange appointments to see their doctor
view medical records
It can also show vaccine statuses, including for coronavirus, but currently this feature must be enabled by a GP before it appears on the app.

The new update will contain a separate feature to display coronavirus vaccine records, so the government said there should be no need to contact GPs.

The app will not show coronavirus test results, but the NHS plans to incorporate this in the future, the government website said.

It advised people to register to use the app at least two weeks before travelling.

A paper letter can be requested only at least five days after a second vaccine dose and can take five days to arrive.

Pre-departure test
“There are not many countries that currently accept proof of vaccination,” the government advice warns.

“So for the time being, most people will still need to follow other rules when travelling abroad – like getting a negative pre-departure test.”

The government has announced 12 countries people in England can travel to, without having to quarantine when they return.

But not all of these destinations allow UK tourists.

For example, travel to mainland Portugal and the Azores is currently for essential purposes only.

The list will be reviewed every three weeks.

Countries can be added or removed at short notice.

It’s finally becoming clearer exactly how the government plans to use the NHS app as a vaccine passport.

It had been assumed it depended on getting GPs to share a patient’s data with the app. I’d been on the phone to my GP surgery because neither of my two jabs was showing up in the app.

But this morning a Department of Health spokeswoman told me that NHS X – the health service digital division – has designed an update to the app which doesn’t depend on GP records.

The update won’t go live until May 17th and will provide a new tab displaying your vaccine record, the idea being that this is all you need to show rather than any other sensitive data being visible.

What’s not clear however is whether this solution will be acceptable to foreign airlines or border police. But there is one message the government is keen to get out – don’t do what I did and ring your GP.

Presentational grey line
Holiday destination
Travellers also need to take coronavirus tests before returning to England and after arrival.

Some countries may also require tests to be taken upon entry to the holiday destination.

European officials have announced plans for an EU-wide “Green Digital Certificate”.

This would allow anyone vaccinated against Covid or who has tested negative or recently recovered from the virus to travel within the region.

Officials hope the certificate will be in place before the summer.

Several companies have been working on apps to make travel easier, including trade body the International Air Transport Association, who are piloting ‘Travel Pass’.

It said it has been in discussions with government to ensure the pass can read data from the NHS App.

“We’re keen to go further and faster now that the Secretary of State has confirmed that travellers will have access to their covid vaccination status by 17 May,” a spokesperson added. “Globally there are now 20+ countries that are either easing testing or quarantine requirements for vaccinated passengers so the UK needs to move quickly if it does not want to fall behind globally in supporting its citizens’ ability to freely travel.”

An actor is suing TikTok for using her voice in its text-to-speech function.

It converts writing into speech, which can then be played over videos uploaded to the app, often for comedic effect.

Bev Standing recorded about 10,000 sentences of audio for the state-backed Chinese Institute of Acoustics research body to use in translations, in 2018.

The legal action claims her voice can now be heard in viral videos featuring “foul and offensive language”, causing her reputation “irreparable harm”.

‘Reimburse me’
Standing, from Ontario, Canada, told BBC News no permission had been given for these recordings to be used in any other applications or resold.

“My voice is my product – it’s my business,” she said.

“You can’t just use it and not reimburse me for what I do.

“If you want to use someone’s voice, pay for it.”

Standing, who does not use TikTok, felt “violated”, after several videos were sent to her by friends, family and colleagues.

“When I realised you could get me to say anything you want… that’s when I kind of got upset,” she said, describing the content as “totally against brand.”

“I’m certainly hoping it doesn’t affect my business in a negative way.

“Clients may stop hiring me because they recognise that voice.”

‘Ordinary people’
Robert Sciglimpaglia, the lawyer representing Ms Standing, told BBC News: “The technology exists where anyone’s voice can be replicated through artificial intelligence.

“This is not an issue just about celebrities or voice actors, who of course will be hugely impacted because their livelihood is literally being taken away from them.

“This is also about ordinary people.”

Neither TikTok nor parent company Bytedance had responded to the legal filing, issued in New York last week, he added.

Local accents
Standing’s voice is used on the North American version of the app.

But in other regions, local accents – a British male voice in the UK, for example – are used.

A TikTok representative told The Telegraph, which first reported the story, it did not comment on continuing litigation.

The company told BBC News it had nothing further to add.

The Chinese Institute of Acoustics did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Moral rights’
“Actors’ performances, including vocal performances, are protected by copyright,” Jowanna Conboye, intellectual property and technology partner at Spencer West, said.

So a voice artist should have a claim under copyright if their performance is used without their permission

“A key question is where the voice artist’s content was obtained from.

“In commercial situations, copyright is often assigned to another business.

“But even if that is the case, the voice artist or actor normally retains moral rights, which should ensure that they are recognised as the person performing.”

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has revealed he has Asperger’s syndrome while appearing on the US comedy sketch series Saturday Night Live (SNL).

The 49-year-old told viewers he was “the first person with Asperger’s” to host the long-running programme – to loud cheers from the audience.

People with Asperger’s interpret the environment around them differently to other people.

It is thought to be the first time Mr Musk has spoken about his condition.

The tech boss was guest hosting the sketch show – a coveted role that has been filled by an array of celebrities since SNL’s inception in the 1970s. These include Adele, Chris Rock, Ringo Starr, and Will Ferrell.

What is Saturday Night Live?
Lesser-known things about Asperger’s syndrome
What is Elon Musk’s Starship?
“I don’t always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak… which I’m told makes for great comedy,” he joked in his opening monologue. “I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL.”

His comment prompted a round of applause from the studio audience.

Some people on social media, however, questioned his claim. They pointed out that the comedian Dan Aykroyd, who has spoken publicly about his experience with Tourette’s and Asperger’s syndrome, has previously hosted SNL.

Mr Musk, who has more than 53 million followers on Twitter, also joked about his use of social media. He has faced criticism and even legal threats over his tweets in the past.

“Look, I know I sometimes say or post strange things, but that’s just how my brain works,” he said.

“To anyone who’s been offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars, and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”

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What is Asperger’s syndrome?
Asperger’s syndrome is a lifelong disability which affects people in many different ways
Some may choose to keep using the term, while others may prefer to refer to themselves as autistic or on the autistic spectrum
Those with the syndrome may have difficulties interpreting verbal and non-verbal language, and may need more time to process information
They may also have trouble expressing their feelings in a conventional way. But they can be more empathetic or emotionally aware than non-autistic people
Many people with Asperger’s syndrome have intense and highly focused interests – some channelling them towards a successful career
Source: Autism.org.uk

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The billionaire also joked about his son’s unusual name – he and the singer Grimes announced the birth of their first child, X Æ A-12 Musk, last year. “It’s pronounced cat running across keyboard,” Mr Musk said.

Later in the programme, the SpaceX CEO spoke about the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

The currency was created in 2013 by a pair of software workers, and earlier this year it jumped in value by 50% after Mr Musk dubbed it “the people’s crypto”.

It uses a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot and is based on a meme featuring the animal.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
Mr Musk described the currency as “an unstoppable vehicle that’s going to take over the world” – but later said it was a “hustle” which prompted an almost immediate fall in value.

With no intrinsic value like gold or land, and no ability to generate an income, cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and can crash as fast as they rise. This makes them hard to value and makes their prices susceptible to tips from backers such as Mr Musk.

NBC, which airs SNL, said the episode was streamed live on YouTube to more than 100 countries.

Twitter has launched a new “tip jar” feature that lets people send money to others on the social network.

The company says the feature is “an easy way to support the incredible voices that make up the conversation”.

To begin with, only a select group of people can receive tips – a group Twitter said was made up of “creators”, journalists, experts, and non-profits.

But the feature has also been criticised for exposing personal information such as email addresses.

The tip jar function essentially adds a small icon to a user’s profile – on mobile devices only for now – with a drop-down menu for other payment providers such as PayPal, Venmo, or the Cash App, the latter two of which are popular in the United States.

But because the payment is made through those external systems, some Twitter users noticed that tipping a PayPal account lets the recipient know the postal address of the tip sender.

In other cases, the recipient’s email address could be seen, whether or not any money was sent.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
After security expert Rachel Tobac highlighted the issue, Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour thanked her for the “good catch” – but said Twitter could not control how PayPal handled that information.

Instead, Twitter said it was updating the information around the tip jar to make clear that some details might be shared.

PayPal, meanwhile, said the issue arose because the Twitter tip jar was using its “goods and services” payment option – which shares details for shipping those goods. It said people can toggle to the “friends and family” option during payment to avoid the issue.

The tip jar function also has support for Bandcamp – widely used by musicians – and Patreon, used by all sorts of independent digital creators such as YouTubers and podcasters.

Twitter says the addition was inspired by people who added payment links or Patreon ads in replies to viral tweets.

“We $ee you – sharing your PayPal link after your Tweet goes viral, adding your $Cashtag to your profile so people can support your work, dropping your Venmo handle on your birthday or if you just need some extra help,” wrote Twitter’s senior product manager Esther Crawford in the blog post announcing the feature.

It said more people would be able to add the function to their profile “soon”.

But there are some concerns about the way the function will be used.

Journalists, in particular, are often banned from accepting gifts – and it’s not clear how “tips” will be treated by news organisations.

“Seems like Twitter’s tip jar feature is going to raise some issues for newsrooms,” tweeted Ryan Lizza, Politico’s Washington correspondent.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
“Should reporters at your favourite [publications] and networks be allowed to accept money from anyone on the internet?” he asked.

Another reporter writing for a US-based newspaper wrote: “On the one hand… seems ripe for creating unethical situations.

“On the other hand… I don’t make a lot of money and it’s a tough world out there.”

The tip jar is the latest in a string of experiments from the social network, which has seen user growth slow in recent years.

Earlier this month, it acquired Scroll, a subscription service that removes adverts from participating news websites – and announced it would be part of Twitter’s upcoming subscription service.

As part of that deal, Twitter also pitched paying Twitter as a way of supporting journalism.

“As a Twitter subscriber, picture getting access to premium features where you can easily read articles from your favourite news outlet or a writer’s newsletter from Revue, with a portion of your subscription going to the publishers and writers creating the content,” it said.

Twitter has suspended an account sharing posts from former US president Donald Trump’s new communications platform.

The account claimed to be tweeting “on behalf” of Mr Trump.

A spokesperson for the company said the account, @DJTDesk, violated the ban evasion policy by sharing content “affiliated with a suspended account.”

But the BBC found similar accounts still active on the social media platform.

Mr Trump was permanently banned from Twitter in January after he voiced support for rioters who stormed the US Capitol.

He launched his own communications platform – titled “From the Desk of Donald J Trump” – on Tuesday.

According to NBC News, the bio for the @DJTDesk account read: “Posts copied from Save America on behalf of the 45th POTUS; Originally composed via DonaldJTrump/Desk”.

Twitter says that although it does allow accounts to share content from Mr Trump’s new website, it won’t allow an individual to “circumvent” a ban.

Those “evasion” rules can include “having someone else operate on your behalf, an account which represents your identity, persona, brand or business persona for a different purpose.”

The BBC flagged four accounts with similar bios that were also sharing content from Mr Trump’s new platform.

Twitter did not respond when asked what would happen to these accounts.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
At the time of publishing, the four accounts were still active.

One had also recently tweeted about ban evasion.

It is unclear who is behind the accounts, but most of them claim to be independent of the former president.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller told NBC News the @DJTDesk account was not set up by, or with the permission of, anyone affiliated with the former president.
Mr Trump’s new communication platform, The Desk of Donald J Trump, will host statements and press releases from the former president.

Visitors are able to like posts and share them on their Twitter and Facebook accounts – provided the posts themselves don’t break the sites’ rules.

Mr Trump’s new platform was announced the day before Facebook’s independent Oversight Board ruled in favour of the social media company’s decision to suspend him – but also ruled Facebook should reconsider the length of the suspension within six months.

Google’s chief executive has sent an email to employees encouraging them to return to work in the office for at least three days a week as lockdowns ease.

The firm began reopening offices in April, and has now laid out the details of how it envisages the new hybrid working week.

In the email, Sundar Pichai extols the benefits of office working.

Twitter, by contrast, has said that employees can work from home “forever”.

Facebook has also said that its employees can continue to be home-based.

Google was one of the first companies to offer working from home when the pandemic struck last year. People can continue to work remotely until September.

Previously, Googlers, as staff are known, had to formally apply if they wanted to work from a remote location (other than their home) for more than two weeks. That has now been expanded to four weeks.

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In the email, seen by the BBC, Mr Pichai writes about the benefits of being in an office: “For more than 20 years, our employees have been coming to the office to solve interesting problems – in a cafe, around a whiteboard, or during a pick-up game of beach volleyball or cricket.”

He said that in locations where offices had already opened, “we’ve seen nearly 60% of Googlers choosing to come back”.

‘Take care’
He added that he envisaged a workforce where 60% were office based, 20% were in “new office locations” and 20% were working from home.

In terms of the numbers of days in each location, he said that teams would come together in the office “approximately three days” a week, and work “wherever suits them best” for two days.

Some teams though would “need to be on site more than three days a week due to the nature of the work”.

Many had assumed that, especially in Silicon Valley, working from home would become the norm post-pandemic.

Mr Pichai, who is Indian-born, also said it was “heartbreaking” to see Covid surging in places such as India and Brazil.

For employees living there he had a simple message: “Please focus on taking care of yourselves and your loved ones. We are here to support however we can.”

A surge in iPhone sales, especially in China, has led to a doubling of profits at Apple since the start of the pandemic.

The results reflected “optimism” about the days ahead, Apple’s boss said.

Rival tech firm Facebook also reported bumper revenues and profits.

But the social media giant warned Apple’s latest software release could undermine its prospects later in the year.

Apple has seen sales of its phones, apps and other devices rise throughout the pandemic, as consumers spent more time working, shopping and seeking entertainment online.

Customers continued to upgrade to Apple’s new 5G phones which were rolled out last year, and also bought Mac computers and iPads to tackle working and studying from home, the firm said.

Fitness and music apps also saw a lockdown boost.

Sales to China nearly doubled, leading to overall revenues for the first three months of this year of $89.6bn (£64.2bn), more than 50% up compared to a year earlier.

Profit was $23.6bn, up from $11.3bn for the same period last year.

“This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us,” said chief executive Tim Cook.

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Paolo Pescatore, analyst with PP Foresight, said it was “another blowout quarter” for Apple.

“The iPhone remains a core product and gateway to the Apple universe,” he added, providing Apple with “a key launchpad” to sell further services.

Sophie Lund-Yates, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said customers had proved willing to “splurge on big-ticket items thanks to a global shift to working from home, and the fact people have found comfort in treating themselves”.

“The sheer scale of Apple’s sales is testament to the grip that shiny embossed piece of fruit has on global consumers,” she added.

Facebook, which relies on sales of advertising rather than consumer electronics, also saw bumper revenues and profits in the first three months of the year.

The time spent by consumers at home, and the spending power that shifted online, translated into revenues of $26.17bn, outpacing analysts predictions. Profit was also higher than expected at $9.5bn.

Facebook said in coming months it expected revenue to be stable or grow moderately, and admitted a new feature released this week by Apple – an option for users to prevent apps from collecting user data – could “significantly” hurt its business.

It’s not just Apple and Facebook who have posted astonishing profits this week. Google and Microsoft announced eye-watering quarterly figures yesterday too.

That may not be surprising to many. Global lockdowns have made people work and play more online. What’s less clear though was whether this was a pandemic bounce? Or have people permanently changed their behaviour? These figures certainly suggest the latter.

Apple’s figures across multiple sectors, across the world, are exceptional. In places like China, which has mostly been lockdown-free in recent months, sales were up dramatically. Facebook’s figures too, show that advertisers are feeling bullish about online spending.

Almost all of Facebook’s revenue is from ads, so when Facebook is doing well, that usually suggests we’re buying more things on the internet. Amazon’s quarterly figures are out tomorrow, and they too are expected to have had a bumper quarter. Big Tech’s pandemic bounce is increasingly looking like a trend.

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The two companies are locked in a stand-off after Apple announced the latest version of its iOS operating system this week.

A new feature will prompt device users to decide whether they are happy for their data to be collected by apps. Many are likely to say no.

But user data is a large reason why Facebook’s ad-based business model is so profitable. It allows advertising to be targeted and monitored for efficacy.

Facebook saw a rise in monthly active users, however, which were up by 10% at 2.85 billion.

On Tuesday Google’s parent company Alphabet reported a record profit in the three months to March as its advertising revenue swelled by a third.

The firm credited “elevated consumer activity online” for its results as populations around the world spent more time indoors at home to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Google owner Alphabet saw its earnings soar in the first quarter as people stuck at home in the pandemic used more of its services.

Net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in the three months to March as advertising revenue swelled by a third.

It comes as the tech giant faces increased scrutiny over its power and the pandemic has people turning to the internet more than ever.

The firm credited “elevated consumer activity online” for its results.

“Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained,” said Alphabet and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.

Analysts had expected a good performance as economies around the world have continued to reopen, prompting more spending on online advertising.

Reflecting this revenue at Google’s search business jumped by 30% to $31.9bn in the quarter , while sales at YouTube leapt 49% to $6bn.

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Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Alphabet had “lapped up the rewards from the pandemic like a big cat pouncing on cream”.

“While famous for its start-up culture and offices, this tech giant is, rather unspectacularly, an advertising business,” she said.

“Covid means phenomenal sums of money have shifted to online shopping, so Alphabet’s impenetrable family of digital advertising businesses have seen revenue skyrocket.”

The only problem facing the tech giant is continued regulatory action over issues such as competition and privacy.

The latest dispute emerged on Monday when streaming TV technology company Roku accused Google of engaging in anticompetitive behaviour to benefit its YouTube and hardware businesses.

Meanwhile, US and European regulators continue to discuss tightening oversight of Google and other tech giants, but have yet to agree legislation.

On the back of the strong results, shares in Alphabet rose by 4.5% in after-hours trading.

“I’ve definitely encountered lots of negativity along the way, which is hard to ignore sometimes, but I feel like it just comes with it.”

With a make-up brand and two million followers on Instagram, beauty influencer CC Clarke has built a highly successful business career through social media.

For small businesses, “tapping into social media will be your secret weapon”, she says.

It is a rapidly growing field. More than £10bn is expected to be spent on influencer marketing next year – double what it was just two years ago.

But for all the financial success influencers may enjoy, having a big online profile can also leave them more exposed to negative or hurtful comments.

Authenticity is a much-vaunted ideal in the world of influencer marketing and there’s an expectation that people will share a lot about themselves and their home lives online.

‘Hits you where it hurts’
If there were a job description for the role of influencer, CC Clarke would probably include “having a thick skin” – something she says she’s had to develop over the years when faced with unpleasant comments from online trolls.

“The positivity far, far outweighs the negativity… it’s just the negativity hits you where it hurts a little bit more,” she tells BBC Radio 5 Live’s Million by 30 podcast.

She says the worst comments have been those criticising her parenting style – what she calls a “mum-shaming parade”.

“Of the things I’ve spoken about online – from make-up to beauty, to music to personal life – becoming a mum, and receiving the amount of negativity that I have, has been mind-blowing – from the name of my baby girl, to the way that I hold her.

“Luckily I’ve got a thick skin. I was a little bit sensitive, of course, when I was a new mum – your emotions are all over the place and I was quite upset by it.”

Panic-inducing ‘help’
CC Clarke says like most parents, she is doing her best – but some of her followers offer her less-than-helpful advice.

“People would start to panic you because of all sorts of things, you know, ‘If she lays like that, she won’t wake up in the morning’.

“I was told she was going to go blind the other day because she was watching TV with us.”

She has developed a way to deal with it, so that “it doesn’t bother me in the slightest”.

But there is a balance between having a thick skin and accepting the unacceptable.

Sarah Holland, chief executive of Riskeye – which works with businesses and individuals to make their social media safer – says “you definitely have to know what you’re getting into”.

“You have to know what the space is about, you have to know how to put yourself into a preventative state before you get on there,” she warns.

And while CC has learned to handle it, “lots of people can’t”.

“You don’t have to tolerate some of this stuff that gets put up,” Ms Holland says. “You can take things down, there are rules and regulations out there.”

She says organisations like hers will “step in and advocate” for clients and remove hurtful comments, but both she and CC think the problem ultimately “sits firmly at the door” of the social media platforms.

They are calling on them to take a more pro-active approach to tackling the problem.

“I definitely feel like a lot of powerful voices online have really been shouting about the fact we want a monitoring of these sorts of trolls, but I don’t know if anything’s going to be done about it,” CC says.

“Social media has a lot to answer for when it comes to bullying.”

‘Time to step up’
Sheree Atcheson, a computer scientist and global diversity and inclusion executive in the tech sector, agrees. She told the BBC that this type of trolling was just a part of a bigger problem.

“There’s a lot of work that the tech industry has to do when it comes to online safety – and that’s what we’re talking about here.

“Even though we’ve had social media really for a decade or so, we are still really getting to grips with the power that it has, and what that means is it needs to be regulated.

“We’ve seen the mental crisis that is happening at the moment… we’ve seen the impact that social media has on that, and it really is time for tech companies – certainly the big tech companies – to step up.”

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Facebook, which owns Instagram, told the BBC it had recently launched new measures to tackle harmful direct messages on the platform through “pro-active detection technology” and that it offers a number of tools to help control abusive comments.

“We know there’s still more we can do, and we’re committed to continuing our fight against bullying and online abuse,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

It’s not all about social media for CC, though.

She is hoping to become a successful singer-songwriter as well as running her beauty business and now finds she can “honestly just switch off” when she’s with friends and family.

“Being around people who aren’t in that social media world has really helped,” she says. “We don’t have to talk about followers, or likes or pictures.”