Remembering Molly Russell: Social media's contribution to suicide

 *This article deals with topics of suicide and self-harm which may be triggering to some readers*

The tragic death of Molly Russell, 14, in 2017 has proved to be a ‘watershed moment’ after inquest rules social media contributed to her suicide.

Credit: BBC News.

By: Derry Salter.

Molly Russell took her life in 2017. After her death, her family looked into her Instagram and Pinterest accounts and uncovered distressing material concerning depression and suicide. In the last six months of her life, Molly used her Instagram account more than 120 times a day. Her father stated that Instagram “helped kill my daughter.”

In a record move, the coroner investigating Molly’s death called for her social media information to be handed over in November 2019. Jess Elliott, family barrister, first told the courts of social media’s involvement in Molly’s death in 2019 stating that the platforms provided access to “a self-supplying world of self-harm and suicide.”

Adam Mosseri, the boss of Instagram, met with former Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, in February 2019 to discuss the platform’s handling of pro-suicide content. Mosseri promised to add ‘sensitivity screens’ which hide images of self-harm and suicide. However, over three years later and these sensitivity screens are near pointless as a user can decide to override them and look at the content.

Throughout the pre-inquest for Molly’s death earlier this year, Meta – the owner of Instagram – repeatedly dragged its heels in providing evidence. When Meta finally provided evidence, they showed 12,000 pieces of content that Molly had viewed before her death. The inquest was pushed until late September and lasted just under a two weeks.

Speaking before the inquest, a Meta spokesperson announced: “We have never allowed content that promotes or glorifies suicide and self-harm.”

In contrast, Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of Papyrus, a charity that works to prevent suicide in young people, stated that: “We have to change the way we accept the power of tech giants.”

During the inquest, the coroner played the footage Molly had liked or saved, warning the court that it was “most distressing...it is almost impossible to watch.” There were talks of editing the content before the inquest, but it was ruled that Molly had no such choice to watch edited content.

Earlier last week, Judson Hoffman, head of Pinterest’s community operations, apologised to the Russell family and admitted the platform was “not safe” when Molly used it. 

In stark contrast, Elizabeth Lagone, an executive at Meta, continues to argue that Instagram is “safe for people to be able to express themselves.”

Speaking out in the inquest, Molly’s father, Ian, stated that he was shocked at the “dark, graphic, harmful material” available for children to view online and something needs to change.

The inquest concluded that social media contributed “more than minimally” to Molly’s act of self-harm after she viewed harmful content online. Molly’s growing depression coupled with the material she viewed in her vulnerable state affected her mental health and consequently contributed to her untimely death.

In a hopeful look into the future, Molly’s suicide has been the devastating straw that broke the camel’s back, with a new Online Safety Bill being reviewed by Parliament.