Adele Zeynep Walton, a prominent advocate for online safety, recently shared her harrowing journey following the death of her younger sister, Aimee Walton, at the age of 21. Aimee’s tragic passing has prompted Adele to investigate the complex relationship between technology and mental health, leading her to publish a book titled “Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World.” In this collection of essays, she interrogates the pernicious forces of our digital world. Second, she calls for immediate action to address the harmful effects of the digital space.
Adele believes that Aimee’s death was not simply a case of suicide. Rather, she argues that online factors played a significant role in her sister’s struggles. After traveling to a pro-euthanasia suicide forum that Aimee often visited, Adele found disturbing ties to these toxic online communities. She is particularly concerned with those who subscribe to “incel” ideologies. She worries that almost certainly someone with those views had an impact on Aimee while she was alive.
“I feel it’s my duty to Aimee, because I wish I could have protected her,” Adele expressed, reflecting on the emotional burden she carries. She wants the coroner looking into Aimee’s death to view these online pressures as contributing factors to her passing.
As youth, Adele and Aimee each spent 10,000+ hours in games like Stardoll, Club Penguin, and FarmVille. Adele is the first to admit that the world of technology is a very different place now than when they were kids. Now as an adult, she limits her screen time to about nine and a half hours per week. She believes that to be a large sum.
Adele’s advocacy work extends far past her written word. She continues to work with Bereaved Families for Online Safety, and in 2023 she became a youth ambassador for People vs Big Tech. These roles further position her to hold tech companies accountable, encouraging transparency and greater oversight. She pushes back against the assumption that technology = progress = innovation.
For a long time it was just this kind of veneer that technology equals progress, technology equals innovation. That’s the thing I really want the book to push back against,” said Adele with great intensity.
Adele grief argues that labeling Aimee’s death a suicide puts the burden of blame unfairly on her. This view absolves the digital world of any responsibility or accountability. She’s adamant that people in positions of power must be forced to feel the emotional toll of the grief created by digital harms.
“This is my concern: people in power will only act if they feel what this grief feels like,” she said. “I would not wish that on anyone. But if Mark Zuckerberg, for example, lost a child to online harms, then he’d be like, ‘Oh my God, I need to wake up.’”
Aimee’s tragic death was compounded by her access to a known toxic substance. This drug was traced to Kenneth Law, a Canadian national with ties to several deaths in the United Kingdom. Adele contends that these digital environments can create a “darkening circle of interest and exposure,” leading vulnerable individuals down harmful paths.
She had her own personal opinions about Aimee, Adele said, and she felt Aimee was groomed into making that decision. She particularly focused on the significant impact online algorithms can have on users’ decisions.
Adele passionately fights to protect survivors from online harms. She is working to change laws and regulations so we can all be safer online. “Campaigning enables survivors to regain control where it’s been taken from them,” she noted.