Methanol poisoning survivor says influencer campaign not enough
A survivor of a mass methanol poisoning in Laos says an influencer campaign designed to warn young travellers about the deadly substance doesn’t go far enough.
Bethany Clarke was among a group of backpackers who drank shots thought to be tainted with the toxic chemical in the south-east Asian country last November.
Her friend Simone White, 28, was one of six people who died.
The UK government has recruited students and influencers to promote safety messages about methanol poisoning on social media.
Bethany, who is pushing for better education around the risks, tells BBC Newsbeat it's a step in the right direction but worries the information won't reach everyone who needs to see it.
Methanol is not meant for human consumption and drinking even a small amount can cause symptoms including blurred vision, dizziness and vomiting.
The effects can resemble a regular hangover at first, but without treatment, it can prove fatal.
There has been pressure on the government to do more to highlight the risks of methanol poisoning since the deaths in Laos.
Before then its travel advice page for the country did not contain references to the risk.
It has since been updated, alongside information on the dedicated Travel Aware campaign pages.
Last week, eight countries, including Japan and Mexico, were added to a list of places where methanol poisonings involving British nationals have been reported.
Campaigners have called on the government and the travel industry to do more to inform people of the risks.
The UK Foreign Office tells Newsbeat it's now working with influencers and "student ambassadors" as part of a wider campaign to help travellers drink safely abroad.
One of the people it's worked with is 25-year old content creator Lia Groves.
Although she has a full-time job and describes social media as a "hobby", she has more than 40,000 TikTok followers on her travel-focused account.
On Instagram, where she has almost 15,000, the Foreign Office approached her to make a series of videos.
"One was a focus on methanol poisoning when travelling," she says.
Lia says she’s seen the topic talked about more on social media, and people have got in touch to thank her for highlighting the dangers.
"I'm going to change how I travel now," says Lia, who's just begun a six-month backpacking trip.
"I won't be drinking homemade alcohol or the free shots that you get in bars."
The government has increasingly been using social media to spread safety messages, including a recent campaign about going abroad for cosmetic surgeries.
"My age group are into travelling, social media - it's kind of how we get our news now - so I do think it's the way to go with it," says Lia.
The Foreign Office shares sponsored posts from its Travel Ambassadors account, which has about 1,700 followers.
While Lia has almost ten times that, many of the people it's collaborated with have just a few hundred.
Bethany believes the government should be targeting bigger accounts, and worries that relying on social media algorithms won't guarantee that the information is widely seen.
"For me, it doesn't really work," she says.
"Because if people aren't viewing the content, then how are they going to get the messaging?"
The Foreign Office says it also plans to add QR codes, which take people to its methanol advice pages.
But Bethany, who has launched a petition to get methanol safety warnings in schools and airports, says any messaging needs to be more "in your face".
She says Australia, where she currently lives, has "very obvious signage" in airports - something she'd like to see replicated in other countries.
"You don't necessarily look at the government guidance anyway," says Bethany.
"And obviously, if you've got nothing in the airports, you've got nothing on the aeroplanes, there's nothing up in the hostels, where are you going to find this information?
"We've still got so many people who aren't aware of this."
In response to questions about its social media campaign, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are using the widest possible range of methods and channels to share vital safety information about the risks of methanol poisoning."
This includes "collaborating with a number of youth influencers to reach younger travellers on the platforms they use most," they said.
They added that the department was expanding advice warnings and working with the travel industry to pass information to customers.