Coroner finds harmful online content likely to have contributed to Molly’s death ‘in a more than minimal way’
Molly Russell’s father has accused the world’s biggest social media firms of “monetising misery” after an inquest ruled that harmful online content contributed to the 14-year-old’s death.
Ian Russell accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of guiding his daughter on a “demented trail of life-sucking content”, after the landmark ruling raised the regulatory pressure on social media companies.
The inquest heard on Friday that Molly, from Harrow, north-west London, had viewed large amounts of content related to suicide, depression, self-harm and anxiety on Instagram and Pinterest before she died in November 2017.
Russell, 59, urged Mark Zuckerberg to “listen to the people who use his platform, listen to the conclusions the coroner gave and then do something about it”. He called for the government to implement its long-delayed online safety bill.
Executives from Meta and Pinterest who gave evidence before the senior coroner, Andrew Walker, during the two-week hearing, apologised for what their platforms had shown Molly.
Molly “died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content”, Walker ruled on Friday.
He said algorithms that curate a social media user’s experience had pushed harmful content to Molly that she had not requested. He said some of the content “romanticised” acts of self-harm and sought to discourage users from seeking professional help.