Friday 30th September
The coroner today delivered his conclusion for the inquest into the death of Molly Russell, stating she “died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.”
Coroner Andrew Walker said online material viewed by the teenager on sites including Instagram and Pinterest “was not safe” and “should not have been available for a child to see.”
Speaking outside North London Coroner’s Court Molly’s father, Ian Russell said: “In the last week, we’ve heard much about one tragic story – Molly’s story.
“Sadly, there are too many others similarly affected right now. At this point I just want to say however dark it seems, there is always hope.
“And if you’re struggling, please speak to someone you trust or one of the many wonderful support organisations rather than engage with online content that may be harmful.
“Please do what you can to live long and stay strong.”
The Molly Rose Foundation welcomed the findings and released a press statement which can be read in full here.
In their statement, the Russell family said: “It’s time for the government’s Online Safety Bill to urgently deliver its long-promised legislation.
“It’s time to protect our innocent young people, instead of allowing platforms to prioritise their profits by monetising their misery.
“For the first time today, tech platforms have been formally held responsible for the death of a child.
“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.”
Labour’s shadow digital and culture Secretary Lucy Powell, said: “Enough is enough. Children must be kept safe online. The government should bring forward the full Online Safety Bill at the earliest opportunity.”
Merry Varney, a partner at Leigh Day solicitors which represented the Russell family, said there had been some acknowledgement 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 of fact.
Ged Flynn, chief executive of suicide prevention organisation Papyrus, said: “We’ve been using the words tech giants, social media giants. The only giants in that room today… were (Ian Russell) and his family.”
Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “The ruling should send shockwaves through Silicon Valley – tech companies must expect to be held to account when they put the safety of children second to commercial decisions. The magnitude of this moment for children everywhere cannot be understated.
“Molly’s family will forever pay the price of Meta and Pinterest’s abject failure to protect her from content no child should see, but the Online Safety Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse this imbalance between families and big tech.
“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.”
As Mr Russell concluded the press conference after the inquest, he said: “Thank you Molly, for being my daughter. Thank you.”
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Thursday 29th September
Coroner Andrew Walker will deliver his conclusions for the inquest into the death of Molly Russell on Friday.
Today he said the opportunity to make social media safe must not “slip away.”
Walker said: “It used to be the case that when a child came through the front door of their home it was to a place of safety.
“With the availability of the internet we brought into our homes a source of risk and we did so without appreciating the extent of that risk and if there is one benefit that can come from this inquest it must be to recognise that risk and take action to make sure that the risk that we have so embraced in our homes is kept away from children completely.”
He told the court he would prepare a report aimed at preventing future deaths after he draws his final conclusions about the teenager’s death.
The Russell family’s lawyer, Oliver Sanders KC requested the coroner gives detailed findings of fact when he makes his conclusion on Friday, because there was a “particularly strong public interest” in the case.
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Wednesday 28th September
Teachers from Molly Russell’s secondary school today gave evidence at the inquest into her death, stating social media causes “no end of issues” as it is “almost impossible to keep track of.”
Headteacher Sue Maguire said Hatch End High School did not “present a stance” that students should not use social media, but admitted it creates “challenges… we simply didn’t have 10 years ago or 15 years ago”.
While she described Molly’s death in November 2017 as a “complete and terrible shock”, she said the school had warned students about the “dangers of social media for a long time”.
Deputy headteacher Rebecca Cozens, who is also head of safeguarding at the school, was asked if she was aware that Molly was able to access the material she did before her death. She replied: “Not to that extent. No.”
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Tuesday 27th September
A child psychiatrist today gave expert evidence at the inquest into the death of Molly Russell, telling the court that some of the self-harm material viewed on social media by the teenager left him “not able to sleep.”
Dr Navin Venugopal said the “very disturbing, distressing” content would “certainly affect her and made her feel more hopeless.”
Dr Venugopal added: “I am of the opinion that it is likely that Miss Russell was placed at risk through accessing self-harm material on social media websites and using the internet.
“There was a risk to Miss Russell’s health and mental state by looking at self-harm related content.”
Concluding his examination of the expert, the family’s lawyer Oliver Sanders KC asked: “The material she was looking at wasn’t safe, was it?”
“No it was not,” Dr Venugopal replied.
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Monday 26th September
The second week of the inquest into Molly Russell’s death is now underway. On Monday, Elizabeth Lagone, head of health and wellbeing for Meta continued giving evidence.
Lagone, who said content viewed by Molly on the platform before her suicide was safe, became involved in a heated exchange with the Russell family lawyer who shouted: “Why on earth are you doing this?”
The inquest was told out of the 16,300 posts Molly saved, shared or liked on Instagram in the six-month period before her death, 2,100 were depression, self-harm or suicide-related.
Lagone said she believed it was “safe for people to be able to express themselves” online, adding the posts were “complex” and often a “cry for help”.
Oliver Sanders KC asked why Instagram permitted children on the platform when it was “allowing people to put potentially harmful content on it”.
He suggested Meta could “just restrict it to adults”, before stating Instagram had “no right” to determine what content children could view.
He shouted: “You are not a parent, you are just a business in America. You have no right to do that. The children who are opening these accounts don’t have the capacity to consent to this.”
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Friday 23rd September
Today Elizabeth Lagone, the head of health and wellbeing at Meta, appeared in the witness box to defend the social media platform’s content policies.
When she was asked by the Russell family’s lawyer whether it was obvious it was not safe for children to see “graphic suicide imagery”, she replied: “I don’t know… these are complicated issues.”
She also denied Instagram treated children like Molly as “guinea pigs” when it launched a new algorithmic system for sorting and personalising content in 2016, called content ranking.
Social media videos liked or saved by Molly were shown with Coroner Andrew Walker warning that they were of “the most distressing nature.”
He revealed there had been legal discussions over whether to edit them beforehand because they were “so uncomfortable to view.”
However, the coroner added: “But Molly had no such choice, so we would in effect be editing the footage for adult viewing when it was available in an unedited form for a child.”
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Thursday 22th September
Today Judson Hoffman, a senior executive at Pinterest admitted the site was “not safe” when 14-year-old Molly Russell used it, shortly before her suicide in 2017.
Speaking on day three of Molly’s inquest, Hoffman said he “deeply regrets” posts viewed by the teenager before her death, conceding it was material he would “not show to my children”.
Hoffman was shown emails sent to Molly including “10 depression pins you might like”, which he said contained “the type of content that we wouldn’t like anyone spending a lot of time with”.
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Wednesday 21th September
The inquest into the death of Molly Rose Russell is now underway.
Today Molly’s father Ian delivered a ‘pen portrait’ of his daughter to North London Coroner’s Court. He described the 14-year-old as “full of love and bubbling with excitement for what should have lay ahead in her life.”
He later gave evidence in which he described material his daughter had been exposed to on the internet as “hideous”, adding he was “definitely shocked how… readily available” it was on a public platform for people over the age of 13.
He added: “It is just the bleakest of worlds. It is not a world I recognise.
“It is a ghetto of the online world.”
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
Tuesday 20th September
Proceedings in Molly Russell’s inquest have been delayed by legal arguments concerning the media’s access to documents. Once these have been resolved, Molly’s father Ian is expected to address the coroner’s court with a ‘pen portrait’ of his daughter tomorrow.
On Tuesday afternoon, Coroner Andrew Walker said: “At the heart of every inquest lies a grieving family and that is something I have not forgotten despite all the work that has been done by counsel today to try and move this case further forward.”
Discussions between lawyers representing Molly’s family, social media giants Meta and Pinterest, and the media are due to resume on Wednesday.
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
