The father of tragic teenager Molly Russell has branded Meta ‘utterly shameful’ after her grieving family was made to wait for answers over her suicide.
The 14-year-old, from Harrow in north-west London, took her own life in 2017 after viewing posts and images about depression and self-harm on Instagram, which is owned by Meta, and Pinterest.
Her inquest was due to begin next month but has been delayed until September after the family’s lawyers said they still had not seen the evidence provided by Meta.
But North London Coroner’s Court heard the content had only been passed to the coroner and not the interested parties – despite there being only 12 working days until it was due to begin.
The company said it did not accept the family’s criticism raised in open court, adding that its delivery of more than 12,500 posts, including some hidden behind private accounts, was ‘unprecedented’.
Molly Russell (pictured) took her own life after viewing ‘dreadful’ self harm posts on social media
Oliver Saunders QC, representing Molly’s family, said they were ‘frustratingly and regrettably’ unable to proceed due to the volume of material.
He added that Meta had further submissions that would likely delay them further, though he didn’t know what they were.
Molly’s father, Ian Russell, told how the adjournment of her inquest, which had been due to start in early April, had come as ‘significant blow to our family’
While Pinterest had provided full details of Molly’s activity on its platform early on, he said Meta were only just doing so now – despite having been asked years ago.
Speaking after yet another pre-inquest review, he said: ‘For a global company worth billions to make a bereaved family wait even longer to get answers regarding the circumstances of their child’s death is utterly shameful.’
Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, for Meta, said the company did not accept the family’s criticism and had ‘genuinely sought to engage throughout the process’.
The 14-year-old (pictured in 2009), from Harrow in north-west London, viewed material linked to anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide before ending her life in November 2017
She said: ‘This was unprecedented, even going beyond criminal matters, and in order to comply has required a laborious effort with individuals writing new specific scripts of code specifically for this task.
‘There are multiple people engaged in this task in order to provide these documents quickly and as accessible as possible.’
Commenting on the Online Safety Bill, Mr Russell, who has campaigned for online safety since his daughter’s death, said it was ‘another important step towards ending the damaging era of tech self-regulation’.
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He said: ‘Increasingly, we are all reminded of the appalling consequences created by harmful online content.
‘Even nations and governments can struggle to protect themselves from the damaging use of digital technology, so we must do more to safeguard the lives of our young and vulnerable.
‘It is time for the laws, regulations, and freedoms of our offline democracies to be reflected in the digital domain.’
An earlier hearing was told Molly used her Instagram account more than 120 times a day.
Molly’s father Ian Russell (pictured in 2017) has campaigned for social media reform since her death and has set up charity the Molly Rose Foundation
She liked more than 11,000 pieces of content and shared material more than 3,000 times, including 1,500 videos.
The teenager also used picture-sharing platform Pinterest more than 15,000 times over the same period.
Mr Russell attended Wednesday’s 40-minute hearing remotely.
He has campaigned for social media reform since her death and has set up a charity named the Molly Rose Foundation.
Interested parties at the inquest will next convene on a suitable time, when a date will be fixed at the next pre-inquest hearing – which was not set today.
Molly (pictured in 2015) liked more than 11,000 pieces of content and shared material more than 3,000 times, including 1,500 videos
Molly’s death is one of the reasons the government is seeking to clamp down on abuses of power by social media giants in a new Online Safety Bill.
The bill seeks to impose a duty of care on tech giants to stop them allowing users to view harmful material.
A White Paper outlining the legislation was first drafted in 2019, but the bill is still going through Parliament.
For confidential support, log on to samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123.
Source: Daily Mail
