[Cherie]

Coroner Andrew Walker delivers his conclusion at the inquest into the death of Molly Russell. The schoolgirl ended her life in November 2017 after viewing online content linked to anxiety, depression and self-harm.

he father of Molly Russell says a "monster" has been created whereby social media products are not safe for users.

“They didn't really consider anything to do with safety,” Ian Russell said at a news conference.

“Sadly their products are misused by people and their products aren’t safe.

"That's the monster that has been created but it's a monster we must do something about to make it safe for our children in the future.

"It’s the corporate culture that needs to change, so that they put safety first instead of profits."

Mr Russell said his message to Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg would be a "simple" one - "to listen".

"Listen to the people that use his platform, listen to the conclusions the coroner gave at this inquest, and then do something about it," he added.

Asked whether the family were considering legal action against social media companies following the coroner's conclusion, Mr Russell said: “In terms of what’s been occupying our minds for the last five years it’s been the inquest.

"It's been at the forefont of our minds, and any other action, legal action or other action, has been very much at the back of our minds."

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14m ago
14:18
Molly Russell family faced 'considerable hurdles' in seeking her social media history
A lawyer for Molly Russell's family said they had faced "considerable hurdles" and only last month did Instagram owner Meta provide details of hundreds of posts viewed by the teenager before her death.

Speaking at a news conference, Merry Varney from law firm Leigh Day said "the battles bereaved families face when seeking answers from social media companies are immense".

"It was only in August this year that Meta provided over 1,200 Instagram posts Molly engaged with, less than a month before the inquest started - this included some of the most distressing videos and posts that Molly engaged with," Ms Varney said.

"Seeking to find out how your loved one died should never be a battle, and Molly’s family have welcomed the transparency shown by Pinterest, as well as their acceptance and apology for the deeply harmful material Molly was able to access.

"We all owe this family an incredible debt of gratitude and together with them I hope the conclusion that children’s lives remain at risk is acted upon urgently, so that tech giants can no longer invite them onto wholly unsafe and harmful platforms."

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24m ago
14:08
Pinterest 'committed to improvements' after Molly Russell death
Social media platform Pinterest says it has "listened very careful" to the family of Molly Russell and the coroner's remarks at the inquest into her death.

The inquest was told Pinterest sent emails to the 14-year-old such as "10 depression pins you might like" and "new ideas for you in depression".

After the conclusion of the inquest, a Pinterest spokesperson said: "“Our thoughts are with the Russell family.

"We’ve listened very carefully to everything that the Coroner and the family have said during the inquest.

"Pinterest is committed to making ongoing improvements to help ensure that the platform is safe for everyone and the coroner’s report will be considered with care.

"Over the past few years, we've continued to strengthen our policies around self-harm content, we’ve provided routes to compassionate support for those in need and we've invested heavily in building new technologies that automatically identify and take action on self-harm content.

"Molly’s story has reinforced our commitment to creating a safe and positive space for our Pinners."




https://news.sky.com/story/molly-rus...death-12708085


Imagine algorithms glamorising self harm and promoting the narrative that suicide is the only way out....its sick

[arista]

Yes Nov 2017,
a real sad case of this young Molly, just 14
going to the wrong Adult sites online
taking her own life.

[Cherie]

She contacted celebs as well to help ..poor girl

[Niamh.]

Poor kid, it's a new world totally teens have to navigate these days with the internet and social media

[Gusto Brunt]

Sorry if I missed it but had this girl been to the doctor with regard to depression?

Did anyone suspect she was depressed?

Yes, a very sad case. Just saw a picture of her. Tragic.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Gusto Brunt

Sorry if I missed it but had this girl been to the doctor with regard to depression?

Did anyone suspect she was depressed?

Yes, a very sad case. Just saw a picture of her. Tragic.

No one knew
she was going online,
looking at so much death sites Instragram

They all found out,
after she killed herself

[Gusto Brunt]

Originally Posted by arista

No one knew
she was going online,
looking at so much death sites Instragram

They all found out,
after she killed herself

I'm shocked there were no signs. Very scary if you're a parent and you just don't know what secret turmoil your child is in.

[arista]

Even the Owners of the Sites said in Court
they would not allow their own kids to view what Molly viewed



Only those in the court Viewed the Content
it can not
go on TV news screens

[rusticgal]

Social media has a lot to answer for…it’s frightening. Such a tragedy for this young girl and her family and many many others.

[LeatherTrumpet]

I kind of think that if it wasnt social media it would have been something else with this case

[arista]

[arista]

SkyText
[The Prince of Wales increased the
pressure on tech companies and the
government last night to keep children
safer online after a landmark ruling
in the Molly Russell inquest, The Times reports.]


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63097739
[Prince William makes online
safety plea after Molly Russell verdict

By Jasmine Andersson
BBC News]

[arista]

BBC News Text:
[Metro leads on comments by the father of
Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who took her
own live in 2017 after viewing suicide-related
content on social media.
Six years on from her death,
Ian Russell says tech firms have not made
enough progress at rolling out measures
to protect children online.]

[Oliver_W]

Social media is toxic. I'm not necessarily comfortable with speech being controlled or limited, but there needs to be better filters on what can reach minors.
I'd even say don't let minors join that'd be a bit of an undertaking, and would probably require ID verification for all account creation, and I'm certainly not happy with giving that sort of info to the tech giants. Not for the sake of social media, anyway.

[Soldier Boy]

Social media algorithmic content is not good for anyone. Full stop. It is inherently geated towards radicalisation. Young boy lingers on a video with misogynistic content? It'll serve more, and more, and more. Religious indoctrination? Same thing. Right wing ideology. Gender extremism. Autism/ADHD/"neurospicy" romaticising. Suicidal ideation. All paths that Social Media targetted content algorithms will take people down.

If you know what you're doing you can curate your tailored content to show you what you actually want to see. My TikTok for example tends to show gaming/entertainment industry stuff and funny videos. But to keep it there you have to make sure you engage with the stuff you want to see (like and comment) and swipe off of things you don't want to see, or even report/block the accounts, or it'll take you down a rabbit hole. Linger on a conspiracy theory video for a few minutes because it's so dumb it's funny? Guess what - you're getting served QAnon trash for the next week.

And if you're not aware... if you don't know that's how these sites work? Very quickly you'll start to believe that "this stuff is everywhere, this is how everyone thinks!" -- and suddenly the world can become very dark.