Molly Russell’s father says “waiting” to bring in online safety laws endangers young people.
Ian Russell - whose 14-year-old daughter Molly died by suicide after seeing lots of content centred on depression, suicide, self-harm and anxiety - has urged lawmakers to act quicker after a inquest ruled that social media media companies, such as Instagram and Pinterest, added to her death, saying Molly “died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content”.
Following this ruling and a conversation with culture secretary Michelle Donelan - who assured Ian she planned to restart the bill’s movement through parliament before the end of the year - he told the Guardian: “If we wait around and chase perfection, we’re endangering young people in particular, who are exposed to harmful content.”
Ian urged the “fine words” of the government to be “put into action”.
He said: “The other thing I’ve learned in the last five years is it’s often you hear fine words spoken, and actually, it can be dangerous to pin your hopes on those fine words. What you have to do is wait and see those words put into action.”
Merry Varney, a lawyer for the Russell family expressed concern that the kind of material seen by Molly was still on available to on social media sites.
She said: “I fear that tragically there will be other people out there like Molly who are suffering harm because of these unsafe platforms, and there will be other bereaved families looking for answers in the unregulated and sometimes dangerous world of social media.”
Last week, while speaking at Conservative party conference, Michelle Donelan said: “My dedicated ministerial team and I are working flat out to ensure the bill is delivered and we are strengthening the protections in place for children.”
Following the hearing, Meta - the parent company of Instagram - said they were “committed to ensuring that Instagram is a positive experience for everyone, particularly teenagers”.
