Queer teen dies by suicide after intense Instagram bullying

A 16-year-old Indian boy died by suicide a week after he posted a reel on Instagram dressed in a sari in celebration of the holiday Diwali.

He was found dead in his home by his mother on November 21.

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Indian LGBTQ+ advocacy group Yes, We Exist revealed the high schooler had suffered a week of relentless online attacks after posting the reel.

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Known by Pranshu, the teen makeup artist had more than 14,000 followers for his account #glamitupwithpranshu.

His final post was the sari reel, uploaded on the Diwali holiday on November 12. 

“Pranshu, a 16 year old Queer Artist and a 10th class student from Ujjain, MP, lost their life to suicide on November 21st,” Yes, We Exist posted on the platform. “Prior to their death, they faced mass bullying on Instagram, for over a week, after their Diwali Reel where they wore a saree went viral.”

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The reel earned over 4000 comments, many of which were homophobic.

“Bro, do you have a biological problem or are you doing it just for views cause its a shame for a boy to leave his masculinity.”

“His testosterone level 📉 📉”

“Pranshu always encouraged their followers to do what their heart desired,” Yes, We Exist continued. “Their followers praised them for this.”

The group is accusing Meta, the parent company of Instagram, of failing to address bullying on the site, despite years of promises and a mountain of evidence demonstrating the platform’s negative effects on young users’ mental health.

An online campaign by the group called #JusticeForPranshu is demanding Meta invest in its non-English language assets and address cyberbullying seriously.

“Recently, an ex-Meta engineer, Arturo Bejar, told the U.S. Congress that he had warned Mark Zuckerberg that Teens are not safe on Instagram but his warnings were ignored,” Yes, We Exist wrote. “He specifically focused on Meta’s failure to curb bullying and threats received by Teens, and gave examples of his own daughter’s experience using Instagram.”

The group noted Meta has fired thousands of content reviewers, and the company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to remove content in violation of community standards.

But a Meta whistleblower, Frances Haugen, has warned that AI is not as smart as Zuckerberg and Meta would like the public to believe it is and is unable to make the moral and ethical decisions about content that human reviewers can.

“As Indian queer persons, most of us have experienced Instagram’s failure to remove homophobic content, despite reporting it,” Yes, We Exist wrote.

The group is hopeful a suit brought by 33 U.S. states accusing Meta of knowingly prioritizing profit over the well-being and safety of minors will prod the company to action.

Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.