TIG Post

Tag: Molly Russell

  • Molly Russell inquest: Family calls for action on harmful content

    Molly Russell’s father says legislation to prevent minors from viewing hazardous content should be passed immediately.

    An investigation concluded that social media posts “more than minimally” led to Molly’s suicide in 2017 after she committed a self-harming act while depressed.

    The coroner ruled she saw images that “shouldn’t have been available” to her.

    Ian Russell said: “It’s clear to me that the age of self-regulation on internet platforms must be ended for the sake and safety of our children.”

    He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The current government has said that they want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online and yet we’re still here and we’re not regulating the platforms.

    “I think it’s really important, firstly, that something that is illegal in the offline world must be illegal and we must be better protected when it’s found on the online world.

    “And I think the hardest thing that the online safety bill is tackling is perhaps this content that’s described as ‘legal but harmful.”

    Ian Russell, Molly's father
    IMAGE SOURCE, KIRSTY O’CONNOR / PA Image caption, Ian Russell has campaigned for a safer online world for children since his daughter’s death

    Andrew Walker, the senior coroner for north London, said Molly, from Harrow, north London, appeared a healthy girl who was flourishing at school, having settled well into secondary school life and displayed an enthusiastic interest in the performing arts.

    However, Molly had become depressed, something common in children of this age, the coroner said. The inquest was told her condition worsened into a depressive illness.

    Mr Russell also described the impact the inquest has had on his family.

    He said: “When the verdict came in, I think we were quite numb and we’re still processing it.

    “It was exhausting for us as a family. It was two weeks in court, but five years since Molly died.

    “It’s just extraordinary, overwhelming grief that I think probably is one of the strongest emotions that anyone can ever feel.

    “So, the inquest itself couldn’t compete with those early days of huge grief and just struggling to get by a second sometimes.

    “But it really did reconnect us we miss Molly and how much we wish she hadn’t seen that content and that she was still with us.”

     

  • After the Molly inquest, Prince tweeted on online safety

    After the inquest into Molly Russell, 14,’s death, Prince William stated that young people’s internet safety should be “a prerequisite, not an afterthought.”    

    A coroner concluded that the teenager from Harrow died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.

    Molly’s father Ian called for urgent changes to make children safer online.

    The prince said: “No parent should ever have to endure what Ian Russell and his family have been through.”

    It is unusual for any member of the Royal Family to make any comment during or following any legal proceedings – but mental health is a topic on which the new Prince of Wales has spoken and campaigned on regularly in the past.

  • Molly Russell’s death: Meta should ‘have some humility’ after inquest – family lawyer

    Following the completion of the inquest involving the death of the schoolgirl, the attorney for Molly Russell‘s family advised Meta to “have some humility.”

    Merry Varney, a partner at Leigh Day solicitors, said there had been some acknowledgment from social media companies, with Pinterest perhaps “more fuller than Meta”, but that it remained to be seen how firms ultimately responded to the coroner’s findings.

    She said she hoped “Meta in particular” followed through after offering to meet with the Molly Rose Foundation and that “they listen very carefully and have some humility”.

    Molly’s father Ian Russell said the measures currently taken to ensure safeguarding online have been “tiny”.

    “I think that those steps are tiny and I think that globally dominant platforms can move a lot faster,” he said.

    “I think we should all be looking at them and judging them on their actions.”

  • Coroner of Molly Russell lists a number of issues with social media sites

    The opportunity to render social media secure must not “slip away,” according to the coroner in the inquest into Molly Russell’s death, who also expressed worries about platforms.

    At a previous hearing, Andrew Walker told North London Coroner’s Court that social media had brought risk to children into their homes and that the risk should be “kept away from children completely”.

    Mr Walker outlined a range of concerns about platforms, which were: a lack of separation of children and adults on social media; age verification and the type of content available and recommended by algorithms to children; insufficient parental oversight for under-18s.

    He told the court he would prepare a report aimed at preventing future deaths after he delivers his conclusion in the inquest on Friday.

  • Molly Russell: Pinterest regrets girl’s ability to view online content linked to self-harm

    Two streams of video Molly Russell watched earlier in her use of the platform and in the weeks leading up to her death were shown at the inquest. The later stream of materials concentrated on despair and self-harm, while the previous stream covered a wide range of topics.

    Molly Russell, a schoolgirl, was able to access self-harm-related content on Pinterest, according to Pinterest’s head of community operations, who has expressed his regret.

    Two streams of video Molly Russell watched earlier in her use of the platform and in the weeks leading up to her death were shown at the inquest. The later stream of materials concentrated on despair and self-harm, while the previous stream covered a wide range of topics.

    Molly Russell, a schoolgirl, was able to access self-harm-related content on Pinterest, according to Pinterest’s head of community operations, who has expressed his regret.

    Two streams of the 14-year-old content were displayed before North London Coroners’ Court on Thursday, contrasting the information she watched earlier in her use of the platform and in the months leading up to her death.

    Molly, from Harrow, north-west London, was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017 after viewing online content that promoted self-harm.

    She was an active user of Pinterest, with more than 15,000 engagements, including 3,000 saves, in the last six months of her life.

    Judson Hoffman, head of Pinterest’s community operations, was asked by the lawyer representing Molly’s family at her inquest if he agreed the type of content had changed.

    Mr Hoffman said: “I do and it’s important to note, and I deeply regret that she was able to access some of the content shown.”

    Mr Oliver Sanders KC asked: “You’ve said you regret it, are you sorry it happened?”

    Mr Hoffman replied: “I am sorry it happened.”

    The court heard the social media giant sent emails to the teenager with headings such as “10 depression pins you might like” and “depression recovery, depressed girl and more pins trending on Pinterest”.

    The emails also contained images. The family’s lawyer asked Mr Hoffman whether he believed they were “safe for children to see”.

    Mr Hoffman replied: “So, I want to be careful here because of the guidance that we have seen.

    “I will say that this is the type of content that we wouldn’t like anyone spending a lot of time with.”

    Mr Sanders KC said “particularly children” would find it “very difficult… to make sense” of the material – to which Mr Hoffman replied: “Yes.”

    Mr Hoffman said he was “not able to answer” how children could agree to potentially being exposed to content inappropriate for a child.

    In the platform’s terms of service, displayed to the hearing, the court was told users were asked to report “bad stuff” if they saw it on the site.

    The terms of service from November 2016 said users may be exposed to material that was “inappropriate to children”.

    Mr Sanders KC asked: “Bearing in mind it might be children who are opening the account… when a user opens an account they have to agree there may be content that’s inappropriate for a child.

    “If the user is a child, how can they agree to that?”

    “I’m sorry, I’m not able to answer that,” Mr Hoffman said.

    People over the age of 13 can use the platform and Coroner Andrew Walker asked if the firm distinguished between children and adults when accounts are set up.

    “No, we do not,” Mr Hoffman replied.

    On Wednesday, Molly’s father Ian Russell urged action at her inquest to “prevent such a young life from being wasted again”.

    “No one is immune from such tragedy, it is closer to all of us than we would care to think, and breaking the stigma that surrounds mental health, self-harm and suicide is literally vital,” he said.

    The inquest continues.

    Source: Sky news