Friday 30 September 2022 07:38 PM Molly Russell: Prince William demands social media firms improve their safety trends now

The Prince of Wales has tonight warned that children's safety online must not be an 'afterthought' and must improve their safety as he praised Molly Russell's 'incredibly brave family' - after a senior coroner ruled that tech platforms contributed to the 14-year-old's suicide.

Molly died in November 2017 after engaging with 2,100 depression, self-harm or suicide-related posts over a period of six months, an inquest at North London Coroner's Court heard. Despite appearing a 'normal, healthy girl' flourishing at school, she was suffering from depression and vulnerable, the court was told.

Her family had argued that social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram had recommended accounts or posts that 'promoted' suicide and self-harm.

Senior coroner Andrew Walker said the schoolgirl died while suffering from the 'negative effects of online content', adding that online material viewed by the teenager on sites such as Instagram and Pinterest 'was not safe' and 'should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see'.

In an unprecedented intervention tonight, King Charles III's son Prince William, the heir apparent, who met Molly's father Ian Russell in November 2019, said on Twitter: 'No parent should ever have to endure what Ian Russell and his family have been through.

'They have been so incredibly brave. Online safety for our children and young people needs to be a prerequisite, not an afterthought.'

Mr Russell said he hoped the conclusion would be an 'important step in bringing about much-needed change' and asked Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to 'just listen... and then do something about it'. Welling up as he ended proceedings at a press conference in Barnet, north London today, Mr Russell's voice broke as he said: 'Thank you, Molly, for being my daughter. Thank you.'

Molly Russell accessed material from the 'ghetto of the online world' before her death in November 2017

The Prince of Wales has tonight warned that children's safety online must not be an 'afterthought'

The Prince and Princess of Wales met Molly's father Ian Russell in November 2019

Molly's father Ian (centre) slammed Facebook owner Meta for its 'toxic corporate culture at the heart' of the company

How is social media regulated and how could laws now change?

Currently, most social media and search engine platforms that operate in the UK are not subject to any large-scale regulations specifically concerning user safety beyond a handful of laws that refer to the sending of threatening or indecent electronic communications.

Instead, these platforms are relied upon to self-regulate, using a mixture of human moderators and artificial intelligence to find and take down illegal or harmful material proactively or when users report it to them. Platforms lay out what types of content are and are not allowed on their sites in their terms of service and community guidelines, which are regularly updated to reflect on the evolving themes and trends that appear in the rapidly moving digital world.

However, critics say this system is flawed for a number of reasons, including that what is and is not regarded as safe or acceptable online can vary widely from site to site, and many moderation systems struggle to keep up with the vast amounts of content being posted.

Concerns have also been raised about the workings of algorithms used to serve users with content a platform thinks might interest them - often this is based on a user's habits on the site and can mean that someone who searches for material linked to depression or self-harm could be shown more of it in the future. In addition, some platforms argue that certain types of content which are not illegal - but could be considered offensive or potentially harmful by some - should be allowed to remain online to protect free speech and expression.

As a result, large amounts of harmful content can be found on social media today as platforms struggle with moderating the sheer scale of content being posted and the balancing act of allowing users to express themselves while trying to keep their online spaces safe.

During the inquest, evidence given by executives from both Meta and Pinterest highlighted these issues. Pinterest executive Judson Hoffman admitted the platform was 'not safe' when Molly accessed it in 2017 because it did not have in place the technology it has now.

And Meta executive Elizabeth Lagone's evidence highlighted the issue of understanding the context of certain posts when she said some of the content seen by Molly was 'safe' or 'nuanced and complicated', arguing that in some instances it was 'important' to give people a voice if they were expressing suicidal thoughts.

During the inquest, coroner Andrew Walker said the opportunity to make social media safe must not 'slip away', as he voiced concerns about the platforms. He outlined a range of concerns including 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; and insufficient parental oversight for under-18s.

The UK's plan to change this landscape is the Online Safety Bill, which would for the first time compel platforms to protect users from online harm, particularly children, by requiring them to take down illegal and other harmful content, and is due to be reintroduced to Parliament soon.

Companies in scope will be required to spell out clearly in their terms of service what content they consider to be acceptable and how they plan to prevent harmful material from being seen by their users. It is also expected to require firms to be more transparent about how their algorithms work and to set out clearly how younger users will be protected from harm.

The new regulations will be overseen by Ofcom and those found to breach the rules could face large fines or be blocked in the UK. The conclusion of the inquest into Molly's death is expected to see renewed calls for the new rules to be swiftly introduced.

Concluding it would not be 'safe' to rule the cause of Molly's death as suicide, Mr Walker said the teenager 'died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content'.

At North London Coroner's Court, he said: 'At the time that these sites were viewed by Molly, some of these sites were not safe as they allowed access to adult content that should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see.

'The way that the platforms operated meant that Molly had access to images, video clips and text concerning or concerned with self-harm, suicide or that were otherwise negative or depressing in nature.

'The platform operated in such a way using algorithms as to result, in some circumstances, of binge periods of images, video clips and text - some of which were selected and provided without Molly requesting them.

'These binge periods, if involving this content, are likely to have had a negative effect on Molly.'

Meta executive Elizabeth Lagone said she believed posts seen by Molly, which her family say 'encouraged' suicide, were safe.

Pinterest's Judson Hoffman told the inquest the site was 'not safe' when Molly used it.

Speaking after the conclusion of the inquest, Mr Burrows said: 'This is social media's big tobacco moment. For the first time globally it has been ruled that content a child was allowed and encouraged to see by tech companies contributed to their death. The world will be watching their response.'

An Online Safety Bill amendment will be brought forward to help bereaved parents access information about social media companies, a peer said.

Baroness Beeban Kidron said she will table a change to the proposed legislation in the House of Lords after a coroner concluded content viewed on the internet contributed to the schoolgirl's death.

Speaking at a press conference in Barnet after the conclusion of the inquest on Friday, crossbench peer Baroness Kidron said: 'I think it was historic - nothing short of historic - the way that the conclusion was held.

'And we do know, and I'm afraid my inbox in Parliament is full of people who have lost children sadly, and many of them struggle to get the information that they want, to get the access, to get that transparency.

'And I will be bringing forward an amendment to the Online Safety Bill in the House of Lords that seeks to make it easier for bereaved parents to access information from social media companies.'

Speaking earlier on Friday,

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