Our campaign centered around a voicemail message. Collaborating with Glenn's official provider, Orange™, we utilized his original voicemail as a foundation. By maintaining its tonality and wording, it resembled a typical voicemail. The first thing people heard was Glenn saying his own name. Then, we used the original voicemail voices of Orange™ to complete the rest of the message. At the end, people were asked to sign an audio petition. This was the first of its kind as people could sign it by saying their name after the tone, instead of giving their autograph.

Sexting is part of the sexual exploration of teens. There’s nothing wrong with sexting. But it becomes a problem when these nudes are shared without the consent of the people involved. Often, these pictures end up online in so-called expose groups where they are shared together with the victim’s personal information leading to victim-blaming, verbal abuse or even threats.

After dialing Glenn’s old number, callers heard the phone ring three times before it went to voicemail. Initially, they heard Glenn say his own name, followed by the official voicemail voice of Orange™ explaining to callers why he was no longer available, replacing the standard message 'is not available at the moment.'

Subsequently, callers were asked to sign an audio petition by stating their first and last name after the tone. By maintaining the same voice, setup, and tonality, the voicemail resembled a typical Belgian voicemail message that people are accustomed to hearing whenever a call goes unanswered.

SFX: telefoon rings three times

Voice of Glenn:

“Glenn…”

Voicemail voice:

“… is no longer available. Because Glenn took his own life after a nude of him was spread online. He was 15 at the time. Today, Child Focus is using his phone to fight against transgressive sexting and exposing. Please, say your first and last name after the tone to sign a petition for a better online protection of minors.

SFX: beep

Voicemail voice:

“Thank you for your call. Follow our battle on callglenn.be.”

A survey conducted by three Belgian universities revealed that 1 in 4 young people aged 15 to 25 had their nudes shared without their consent. This explains why Child Focus, the Belgian center for missing and sexually exploited children, opened 151 reports on transgressive sexting and exposing, last year. Probably a very underestimated number as most victims remain silent because they feel ashamed or are too scared to speak up.

On November 18th, the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, Child Focus aimed to raise awareness and instigate legislative change. We used the real story of Glenn to show the public what the effects can be of sharing an image without the consent of the person involved. At the same time, we organized a petition to exert political pressure. Child Focus had four requests to help improve the online safety of children.

On the first day of the launch, more than 25.000 people called Glenn. This already surpassed the number required to raise our demands in Belgian parliament. But Glenn’s phone kept on ringing, reaching 37.758 calls. Meanwhile, the entire country was talking about online safety for children, resulting in more than 1.1 million euros in earned media and a total reach of 40 million people, that’s about four times the population of Belgium. This led to parliament unanimously approving a bill meeting our four demands for more online safety for kids.

1. Ensure national coordination and coherent policies, both federal and regional.

2. Ensure a performing legislative framework. We need uniform and incisive

legislation at European level, with effective enforcement.

3. Make online child protection a priority to which adequate financial and human resources also go.

4. Force more responsibility on technology players.

Six years after it was deactivated, we reactivated Glenn’s phone—the same phone he used to take the picture that destroyed his life. Collaborating with Glenn’s provider, Orange™, we reinstated his old number, the very same one his friends and family used to dial six years ago.

Next, we updated the well-known standard voicemail message. However, we maintained the same voice, tonality, and wording, ensuring it resembled the typical Belgian voicemail message people are accustomed to hearing when calls go unanswered.

The voicemail itself served as an audio petition. This was the first of its kind as people could sign it by saying their name, instead of giving their autograph.