BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Sarahah: Anonymous app dropped from Apple and Google stores after bullying accusations

  • Published
    26 February 2018
Share page
About sharing
Katrina CollinsImage source, Katrina Collins
Image caption,

Katrina Collins posted a petition against Sarahah

Elizabeth Cassin
BBC Trending

A wildly popular anonymous messaging app has been removed from the Apple and Google stores after accusations that it has been facilitating bullying. But the company's chief executive denies the claims and says the app isn't meant to be used by younger teens.

Katrina Collins was appalled by the anonymous messages her 13-year-old daughter was receiving. One person said she hoped her daughter would kill herself. Others used extremely foul and offensive language.

The messages appeared on the Sarahah app, which was designed to allow people to leave "honest feedback" about colleagues and friends. Although Collins' daughter wasn't actually using the app, she saw the messages after a friend downloaded it and showed them to her.

Collins, who lives in Australia, put up a post on online petition site Change.org, external. She called for the app to be removed from two of the biggest mobile storefronts - Apple's App store and Google's Play store. The petition accused Sarahah of facilitating "bullying" and "self harm", and quickly gained nearly 470,000 supporters.

The app was then taken down from both the Apple and Google stores. It appears the companies took action in response to the petition, although a Google spokesperson said "we don't comment on specific apps" and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

Zain-Alabdin Tawfiq, the CEO of Sarahah, has disputed Collins' allegations. He says the decision by Apple and Google to remove the app was "unfortunate", but is "very optimistic about reaching a favourable understanding with them soon."

line
Petition titled 'Ban apps like Sarahah where my daughter was told to 'KILL HERSELF''Image source, change.org
Image caption,

The petition created by Katrina Collins gained almost 470,000 supporters

Anonymous messages

The app has had an up-and-down ride since it was launched a year ago. It became an instant success - worldwide, more than 300 million users have created accounts. Sarahah, which was developed in Saudi Arabia, topped Apple's App Store in more than 30 countries in July.

Sarahah, which is named after the Arabic word for "honesty", aims to allow users to receive anonymous constructive feedback. But Katrina Collins, the woman behind the petition, says it also "facilitates cyberbullying".

"If it's happening to my daughter," she told BBC Trending, "it's happening to a hell of a lot of other kids out there as well."

A 14-year old from Grimsby in the UK recently spoke out, external about the "disgusting" messages she received on the app.

line

Listen to this story: Trending radio from the BBC World Service

You might also be interested in

  • 'Ready for honesty?' An anonymous message site takes off

  • The woman who tried everything to silence her online bullies

  • Follow BBC Trending on Facebook, external

line

Tawfiq says the offensive word highlighted in Collins' petition "would be picked up by our filtering mechanism and prevented from reaching its destination". He says "as soon as we received this petition, we tried to run [the message] through Sarahah, and it didn't go through."

But Collins says the messages about her daughter "definitely sent", and sent screenshots of the offensive messages to prove her point. She said: "There were no filters at all that picked [them] up. They were all sent".

Since the petition launched, Tawfiq says his company has upgraded its filtering system to use "artificial intelligence and machine learning."

"So basically if someone says kill yourself, then 'kill' is a keyword. But if someone says 'jump off a cliff', then now these robots will be able to detect that and block it as well." He also pointed out that the app is meant for people aged 17 and older.

BBC Trending set up an account and sent the phrases used in the messages to that account. None of the offensive language got through, although this may be because of the recent algorithm change.

Text box which says 'Leave a constructive message :)'Image source, Sarahah.com
Image caption,

Sarahah invites users to leave a 'constructive message'

line

How to protect children online

  • Be aware of what your children are doing on the internet.

  • The NSPCC has a series of guidelines about keeping children safe online, external.

  • They promote the acronym TEAM: Talk about staying safe online; Explore the online world together; Agree rules about what's OK and what's not; and Manage your family's settings and controls.

  • There are more resources on the BBC Stay Safe site.

line

Cyber-bullying

Sarahah is not the first anonymous messaging app to be linked to online bullying. The Secret app shut down after criticism in 2015, and Ask.fm was linked to several teen suicides in 2013.

Another anonymous messaging platform, Sayat.Me, was taken down by its owners following the death of George Hessay last year. Hessay, a 15-year-old boy from the UK, took his own life after receiving abuse on the site, external.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues in this story, there are resources and support on the BBC Action Line website.

Do you have a story for us? Email BBC Trending, external.

More from Trending: Florida shooting: Teachers want to be armed, but not with guns

Lindsey Paull said she will leave teaching if teachers are asked to carry firearms

"Pencils, paper, technology, books, art supplies, counsellors... Not Guns" - this is the wishlist of one teacher in America.READ NOW

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Minneapolis school shooter hated 'almost every group imaginable', police say

    • 8658 viewing8.7k viewing
  • European leaders outraged after Russian strikes kill 21 and damage EU's HQ

    • Published
      45 minutes ago
  • Lives torn apart in Kyiv after Russia's heaviest bombardment for weeks

    • Published
      4 hours ago

More to explore

  • Lives torn apart in Kyiv after Russia's heaviest bombardment for weeks

    Ukrainian Red Cross members provide first aid to a wounded woman at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential building on August 28, 2025 in Kyiv,
  • 'Cowering Amorim image hard to shake' - can he come back from this?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Ruben Amorim sat in the dugout looking down
  • What are Rachel Reeves' options on property tax?

    A woman walking her dog stands outside of an estate agent's window looking at prices
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty fans told to stop abuse of cast

    Christopher Briney, Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno in a promotional photo for The Summer I Turned Pretty
  • Jacqueline Wilson on the 'easiest and hardest book I've ever written'

    Jacqueline Wilson
  • Minneapolis mourns two children killed in shooting - here's what we know

    People gather outdoors while holding candles at a vigil for the victims of the shooting,  at a local park at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening.
  • Woman says Zou raped her hours before other attack

    Treated image of Zhenhao Zou featuring his police mugshot. He is looking straight at the camera with a serious expression. He has straight dark hair with a long fringe and is wearing a white t-shirt and black shirt.
  • Spain and Portugal wildfires drive worst EU season on record

    Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite image acquired on 16 August shows multiple fires in northern Spain.
  • A charity is giving people money to stop homelessness - and it says it's working

    A woman in a leopard print top holds a young boy in glasses and a blue top
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Price of Mounjaro to be discounted in UK pharmacies

  2. 2

    European leaders outraged after Russian strikes kill 21 and damage EU's HQ

  3. 3

    Jessie J cancels tour dates to undergo surgery

  4. 4

    Met special constable found guilty of child rape

  5. 5

    Froome airlifted to hospital after 'serious' crash

    • Attribution
      Sport
  6. 6

    US Fed Governor Lisa Cook sues Trump over his attempt to fire her

  7. 7

    Trump's 'Alligator Alcatraz' being emptied of immigrant detainees

  8. 8

    Epping hotel order could spark protests, court told

  9. 9

    Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced

  10. 10

    Reform council boss bans local newspaper's reporters

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • The ups and downs of a 30-year marriage

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Marriage
  • Bewitching drama from Anne Rice

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Mayfair Witches
  • Lies, forgeries and fraud worth $86 million

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Great Art Fraud
  • A celebration of Britain's finest composers

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Great British Classics at the Proms
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.