Molly Russell

2022 - 9 - 30

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

Social media content 'likely' to have contributed to Molly Russell's ... (Financial Times)

Content on social media sites, including Instagram and Pinterest, is “likely” to have contributed to the death of British teenager Molly Russell, ...

Molly Russell: how family are helping shift narrative on online safety (The Guardian)

Ian Russell's campaigning after his daughter's death has made case for online safety bill unavoidable, says peer.

The bill’s progress through parliament has been paused but it is expected to resume in late October with the child safety provisions staying intact, if not strengthened. The online safety bill places a duty of care on tech companies to shield children from harmful content and systems. What they did then is now a contravention of the code.” Ofcom, the communications watchdog, will vet those proposals and monitor the companies’ adherence to them. “The Russell family have made an unavoidable case for the online safety bill,” says Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer who sat on the joint parliamentary committee that scrutinised the bill. Kidron paid tribute to Russell, a 59-year-old TV director who has become an important voice on internet safety.

Prince William makes online safety plea after Molly Russell verdict (BBC News)

The Prince of Wales says online safety for young people should be "a prerequisite, not an afterthought".

At the conclusion of the hearing, the coroner said he would compile a report outlining his concerns. A member of his staff had to leave the room while they were viewed. His narrative conclusion continued: "Molly subscribed to a number of online sites. Pinterest executive Judson Hoffman told the court that the platform "should be safe for everyone", and accepted that "there was content that should have been removed that was not removed" when Molly was using it. A spokeswoman for Meta said the company was "committed to ensuring that Instagram is a positive experience for everyone, particularly teenagers" and that it would "carefully consider the coroner's full report when he provides it". And at a later news conference Mr Russell was on the edge of tears as he concluded his remarks by paying tribute to Molly - thanking her for being his daughter. The content she then kept watching more and more of was likely to have had a negative effect on the teenager, and "contributed to her death in a more than minimal way", Mr Walker said. The inquest was only shown a small sample of the thousands of images that algorithms served up to Molly - dark, miserable and depressing, of nooses, pills and razor blades. "She died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content." Molly took her own life in 2017, and coroner Andrew Walker said the images of self-harm and suicide she viewed online "shouldn't have been available for a child to see". A coroner concluded that the teenager from London died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content. The prince said: "No parent should ever have to endure what Ian Russell and his family have been through."

The Molly Russell inquest verdict damns Silicon Valley. There can ... (The Guardian)

These companies make decisions that harm children. The government must take action, say the NSPCC's Sir Peter Wanless and 5 Rights' Lady Beeban Kidron.

Lady Beeban Kidron is the founder and chair of 5 Rights It is time to ensure that child safety is at the top of the corporate inbox, ahead of profit or indeed any other consideration. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? It needs to be a robust piece of legislation that sets out children’s rights and needs in enforceable codes of practice, which ensure child safety is not optional but simply a price of doing business – just like any other sector. The world is watching. These young people are the collateral damage of a “move fast and break things” culture in the tech industry, where tragedy is met with a wilful corporate blindness. Basic product safety is the aim. And it forced the Thanks to the incredible courage, bravery and determination of Molly’s father, Ian, and her family, they finally have answers to what caused the death of the daughter and sister they adored. It’s also been five years that we have been waiting for new online safety laws. Answers that they had to fight for against the inscrutable indifference of tech companies. The senior coroner, Andrew Walker, concluded that 14-year-old Molly Russell “died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content”.

Molly Russell inquest should send shockwaves through Silicon ... (BreakingNews.ie)

Campaigners have urged the UK government to swiftly introduce the Online Safety Bill in the wake of the inquest into the teenager's death.

The magnitude of this moment for children everywhere cannot be understated. "For Molly’s sake… "This must be a turning point, and further delay or watering down of the legislation that addresses preventable abuse of our children would be inconceivable to parents across the UK." let’s make the online world a place that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of young people over the money that can be made from them." Children’s charity NSPCC said the conclusions of the inquest "must be a turning point" and tech companies must now be held to account through the proposed Online Safety Bill, after accusing social media sites of putting "the safety of children second to commercial decisions". "In the future, we as a family hope that any other social media companies called upon to assist an inquest follow the example of Pinterest, who have taken steps to learn lessons and have engaged sincerely and respectfully with the inquest process.

Molly Russell: self-harm and suicide content on Instagram and ... (Independent.ie)

A senior coroner has concluded schoolgirl Molly Russell died while suffering from the “negative effects of online content”.

“Molly Rose Russell died from an act of self-harm whist suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content.” “The platform operated in such a way using algorithms as to result, in some circumstances, of binge periods of images, video clips and text – some of which were selected and provided without Molly requesting them. and then do something about it”. At North London Coroner’s Court on Friday, he said: “At the time that these sites were viewed by Molly, some of these sites were not safe as they allowed access to adult content that should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see. Concluding it would not be “safe” to rule Molly’s cause of death as suicide, Mr Walker said the teenager “died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content”. Thank you.”

'Global first' ruling that online content contributed to Molly Russell's ... (thejournal.ie)

Andrew Walker concluded the 14-year-old died 'from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content'.

and then do something about it”. Thank you.” “For the first time globally it has been ruled that content a child was allowed and encouraged to see by tech companies contributed to their death. At North London Coroner’s Court, he said: “At the time that these sites were viewed by Molly, some of these sites were not safe as they allowed access to adult content that should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see. Head of child safety online policy at the children’s charity the NSPCC, Andrew Burrows, said it was the “first time globally it has been ruled that content a child was allowed and encouraged to see by tech companies contributed to their death”. Andrew Walker said online material viewed by the teenager on sites such as Instagram and Pinterest “was not safe” and “should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see”.