Tuesday 27 September 2022 12:35 AM 'I'm just not good enough': Words from 'depressive' Instagram post used in note ... trends now

Molly Russell left behind a note quoting an Instagram post which said 'I'm just not good enough' before taking her life, an inquest heard yesterday.

Oliver Sanders KC, the Russell family's lawyer, suggested the 'dreadful, disgusting' content the 14-year-old viewed on the platform, had 'influenced' her real-world actions.

One in eight posts the schoolgirl engaged with on the platform were depression, self-harm or suicide related in the lead-up to her death, the court was told.

In one instance, an hour after Molly 'binge' watched graphic suicide videos on Instagram, she searched online how to tie a noose.

Yesterday, however, the head of health and wellbeing at Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, claimed such content was safe for children, arguing that it could help them find 'solace' within a community.

Liz Lagone, a senior executive who has been flown in from the US to give evidence, repeatedly defended the material, saying it did not violate their community guidelines at the time.

Depictions of self-harm and suicide were permitted on the platform as long as they did not 'promote or encourage' it. They were later banned altogether in 2019.

The inquest at North London Coroner's Court is examining the algorithms used by social media firms to channel content to users and keep them hooked.

Molly, from Harrow, north-west London, was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017. Phone records reveal that in the last six months of her life she had liked, saved and shared 2,100 images and 183 videos that contained depression, self-harm and suicide content.

The court heard last week how Molly's father Ian Russell had found notes in his daughter's bedroom after her death which 'seemed to reflect the language of the social media posts she was looking at'.

Mr Sanders yesterday

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