A mum who turned anti-knife campaigner after her teenage son was murdered has said she is distraught after her Facebook account was blocked. Alison Cope says the move by the social media giant means thousands of young people who had turned to her were no longer able to contact her.
But the loss of the account is not just affecting those she is trying to help. The mum told how it had irreplaceable messages following the death of her son, Joshua Ribera, known as the rapper Depzman, as well as others from her parents who have also died, reports Birmingham Live.
She said Facebook had locked her account just before Christmas last year saying there had been unusual activity on it. She says she knows nothing about this and said she had spent the past months trying to resolve the situation but without success.
She said: "“That Facebook profile has kept me going. Messages from people discussing Josh have given me so much comfort. When the my account was locked I was then feeling suicidal. I contacted the business pages. There’s a human somewhere!
“To not get a single response off a person in a case like this is horrific. People may think ‘it’s just Facebook’.
“But it’s been a comfort to me. I have 25,000 on that. Thousands of young people that have turned to me who haven’t been able to contact me.
“Before all this happened [her son’s death] I had 40 friends. After it happened it went to 25,000. I had lots of feedback on the work I did. Also my mum died four years ago and my dad died last year. Not having the account is having a massive impact on me.”
Alison built up her following on Facebook after 18-year-old Joshua was murdered in a stabbing in Selly Oak outside TC’s nightclub on September 20, 2013. Armani Mitchell. was found guilty of murder and given a minimum term of 18 years in prison in March 2014.
Since her son’s tragic death, Alison has counselled hundreds of youngsters in schools. But just prior to Christmas last year on December 19 her account was locked after Facebook said it has seen "unusual activity" on the account.
The social media company stated "this may mean that someone has used your account without your knowledge". Alison has been blocked from accessing her page, which includes all the treasured messages and images of her son. Messages from her mum and dad, who have both also died in the past four years, have also been lost.
She said she had been left distraught and at times had even felt "suicidal" over the loss. She said she had written to the social media giant’s offices in the USA, Dublin and London sending her passport to prove her identity and her son’s death certificate but she has yet to receive any response.
The 48-year-old from Moseley told BirminghamLive: “Facebook are an absolute disgrace. How they can not respond. I appreciate they are a high-tech company. But to have no human element when something like this happens is awful.
“Back in December I went to go on Facebook and it came up saying your account is blocked. It said it will let me change my password using my phone number. But it kept looping back to ‘account locked’.
“I have sent them around 70 messages through Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. I have written to them with a copy of my passport to show it's me."
Alison said Facebook told her there was suspicious activity but has yet to tell her what that was. She said: “I have no idea. The thing is in a situation like that you should be able to prove who you are.
“I have sent a picture of my passport and my son’s death certificate. Just nothing works whatsoever. I have set up another page with a different email address. But I can’t contact the people I was in contact with before.
“And I had messages from my mum, dad and Josh and I can’t contact them as they’re dead. I am distraught. People will think I have disappeared.
“All these people. All this work. This has kept me going over the years. Next year I will have reached a million young people. No one else has done that.”
Alison explained she now gives talks to thousands of kids a week on preventing youth violence. She said: “I travel the UK now. I talk about social media and the negative elements.
"I talk about Josh and his inspirational life and his death. And how knife crime will only bring devastation.
“Young people say ‘thank you for changing my life’ and for helping them. That’s gone now.”
And she is desperate to speak to someone at Facebook to sort it out. She added: “The only time a human being has responded was to say it’s not a business page. But it’s a real emotional loss. The photographs, so many photographs people have sent me of Josh.. And it’s all on Facebook.
“I and anyone should be important enough. My profile on Facebook has given me a reason to carry on. All these people need me. All my contacts. I have run an awards night in Josh’s name – the Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards - and it’s all on there. It’s a huge thing.
“There should be a way to say it wasn’t me [the suspicious activity]. Since this happened I have cried and cried and cried. In my darkest moment I would read a message from my mum and dad or Josh and keep going.”
A spokeswoman for Facebook has told BirminghamLive the case is being looked at. They said that the company will now fully investigate it.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea
