Dad’s chilling warning after lady, 14, took personal life after what she noticed on social media

The dad of a 14-year-old girl who took her own life after seeing harmful material online has criticised Ofcom for having “failed to grasp the nettle” on prevention.

Ian Russell has issued an urgent warning to the new Labour government that “timid” regulation of social media giants “may cost young lives”. Hid daughter Molly, from Harrow, in north west London, saw more than 2,000 harmful posts about suicide, self-harm and depression in the last six months of her life in 2017.

Some of the content Molly had seen was too disturbing for police and lawyers to study for too long, a pre-inquest hearing in 2020 heard. The teen was bombarded with harmful content that was recommended to her through computer algorithms.

Mr Russell told the inquest into his daughter’s death that he believes “social media helped kill my daughter” and he has been campaigning for better regulation of tech firms ever since. Research released on Friday by the Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention charity he helped set up in memory of his daughter, found parents are desperate for better protections for their kids online.

A survey by the charity found more than 80% of parents think both online platforms and politicians should be doing more to protect young people, while 77% think ministers have been too slow to act in regulating social media. And an overwhelming 84% of parents back a new Online Safety Act to strengthen weaknesses in the law.
The Act became law a year ago this week but the study warns that the media regulator’s implementation of it has been “risk averse and unambitious”. Ofcom is not expected to use its new powers to protect kids online until the end of next year at the earliest because of lengthy consultations. When the Act finally comes into effect social media platforms will face large fines if they fail to protect users, particularly children, from harmful content.

Mr Russell said: “Almost seven years after Molly’s death, we urgently need ministers to finish the job, with a strengthened Online Safety Act that makes clear measurable harm reduction is the North Star of this regime. While I firmly believe regulation is the best way to protect children from preventable harm, the reality is that timid regulation will cost lives. Ofcom has so far failed to grasp the nettle and respond decisively to preventable online harm.”

Since coming to power in July, the Labour Government has already strengthened the Act, with Technology Secretary Peter Kyle announcing in September that the sharing of revenge porn was being upgraded to a priority offence so platforms would now have to take proactive steps to remove it under the law. At the time, Mr Kyle said he was also “open-minded” about broadening the powers of the Act, including possibly placing criminal liability on named senior managers at social media firms in the event of severe breaches.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “The regulations we will finalise in the coming months, once we have finished seeking the views of children, parents and bereaved families, will be the most comprehensive put forward by any regulator in the world. And we’re confident they’ll deliver a step change in children’s online safety.”

Mr Kyle said: “The Online Safety Act lays the foundations for a safer internet and in the coming months will protect against illegal content and harmful material for children. This government will be watching closely to ensure the protections make the difference they promised. For too long safety has been an afterthought as technology is unleashed on our society; my mission is to turn this tide so safety is baked in from the start.”

YouGov surveyed 4,263 adults in July 2024, including a sample of 895 parents with at least one child aged younger than aged 18, for the MRF’s research.