RSPB, the Royal British Legion and Save the Children have pulled their advertising from social networking site Ask.fm, which is at the centre of a bullying row.

BeatBullying yesterday called on advertisers to withdraw their support and for the public to boycott the site until concerns about safety are addressed. Ask.fm came under fire this week when it emerged that 14-year-old Hannah Smith had killed herself after being targeted anonymously on the site.

This morning, after civilsociety.co.uk alerted the RSPB to its adverts being used on the site, it had them removed. Jim Wardill, head of youth development, said: “The RSPB buys a package of online advertising through an agent which then places adverts on various sites on our behalf. We have asked our agent to remove all RSPB advertising from the Ask.fm website immediately.”

He added: “The RSPB has a long experience of working with schools and youth groups across the UK to inspire young people to learn and care about nature, and we run the UK’s largest nature club for young people – Wildlife Explorers. We take our responsibility to protect young people very seriously and are very concerned at the reports of online bullying on sites like Ask.fm, and the tragic developments of recent weeks.”

Civilsociety.co.uk also contacted the Royal British Legion about its adverts that had appeared on the site and a spokeswoman confirmed that the charity had also pulled its advertising.

Save the Children has also pulled its ads on Ask.fm. A spokesman said: “We put the welfare of children first and as a result of the tragic case of Hannah Smith we no longer advertise on Ask.fm.”

Other major advertisers who have reportedly withdrawn their support from the site include Laura Ashley, Vodafone and Specsavers.

Ask.fm has issued an open letter saying that it has an “in-question reporting function” and that it is “happy to co-operate” with police investigating the circumstances of Hannah Smith’s death.