When Laura Marie Mercieca was 14, her life revolved around schoolwork, friends, family and spending time on social media sharing her art.

That all changed when, one day, her friend sent her an online link on Facebook. This link led to hackers taking control of her Facebook, posting pornographic content and sharing it with her common friends.

“Because of a link, I lost the safe space I thought I had on social media and the safe space I thought I had at school,” she said.

“Because of one moment, one instant, and one link, I lost all my safe spaces and all control.”

Some people refused to believe that her social media was hacked and that she was not behind the content.

Friends then began to call her names.

“Ħmieġ – dirt. That is the image that was stuck to me for a long time, in all spaces all the time,” she said.

“A name that stuck with me not because of my doing but because of a link and because of a hacking.”

Because of social media, she was unable to escape the abuse at home.

Mercieca, now 21 and completing her final year at the university following a Built Environment course, shared her experience during a conference last month revealing that a third of 7-15-year-olds receive unwanted and inappropriate messages online.

She works with the Children’s Council in the Malta Foundation for the Well-being of Society, which commissioned a survey.

It was the first time she spoke about her experience of online bullying.

Hacking impacted her ‘image at school’

“I’m creative at heart and social media platforms have always been that for me, a social space where I can share my art and connect with other artists and friends,” she said.

She recalled in horror the day she received the link from a friend, which automatically hacked her Facebook and left her unable to enter her account.

“They (hackers) just kept posting and posting and my parents and I had no control over it whatsoever,” she said, holding back tears.

“Friends at school believed that I posted the photos, that I created pornography, that I shared it on my timeline and that I sent it to them and put them in harm as well as underage children.”

She said the hacking impacted her image at school and her social life.

She said she didn’t think she would ever be hacked on social media and called for students to be open to having conversations about the impact such hacking can have on their well-being.

“I want to advocate for open conversations with guardians, teachers and students and to realise the harm hackings can have on children. It’s no joke, we need to take this seriously.”

She took a moment to thank MFWS chairperson Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca for creating a safe space to talk about her experience freely and who provided her the comfort she needed during such a difficult time.