Dad of 14-year-old who died after viewing 2,000 'suicide posts' on social media explains why he's against banning it

Warning: This article contains discussion of self-harm and suicide which some readers may find distressing.

On 20 November 2017, Molly Russell took her own life at the age of 14.

An inquest into her death years later found that social media content contributed ‘more than minimally’ as the coroner said the images she viewed ‘shouldn't have been available for a child to see’.

It was concluded that Molly died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.

Airing tonight (5 March) on Channel 4, Molly vs The Machines looks into her tragic death and her dad, Ian’s fight for online safety. And amid his campaigning, he has spoken about why he’s against a ban on social media for under 16s.

During the inquest, Ian spoke of Molly as ‘someone full of love and hope and happiness, a young person full of promise and opportunity and potential’.

However, in the last 12 months of her life, she became ‘more withdrawn’ while still contributing ‘happily’ to family life and her behaviour was put down to ‘normal teenage mood swings’.

In September, Ian told Molly they were concerned about her but she described her behaviour as ‘just a phase I’m going through’.

And while some of her social media activity reflected her positivity, there was an overwhelming darkness. Of the 16,300 Instagram posts she liked, saved or shared in the six months before her death, 2,100 were related to suicide, self-harm or depression.

On this platform, she viewed the likes of graphic montages of clips relating to suicide, depression and self-harm.

During the 2022 hearing, a consultant child psychiatrist said he couldn’t sleep well for weeks after viewing the content Molly had seen just before her death.

Ian was made an MBE for his services to online child safety. (ANDREW MATTHEWS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Ian has spent years campaigning for online safety and in the UK, there have been several changes more recently.

However, as Australia bans social media access for under-16s and there is talks and push for a similar move here, the father is against it.

Ian previously co-signed a joint statement with the NSPCC, Full Fact, the 5 Rights Foundation and others as they argue ‘blanket bans on social media would fail to deliver the improvement in children’s safety and wellbeing that they so urgently need’.

He told The Guardian that he’s firm on this approach even if others find that tricky to understand, as he explained: “We’re in danger of trying to move too fast and trying to find quick-fix solutions.

“If there were quick-fix solutions, honestly, we would have found them.”

In opposing the ban, there are arguments that children will seek more dangerous alternatives and could face a ‘cliff edge’ at 16 when they’re thrown into the ‘high-risk’ world of social media.

In her final six months, Molly viewed 2,100 pieces of harmful content on Instagram. (Family Handout)

And for Ian, it’s also about allowing the Online Safety Act to do its job – a legislation his campaigning helped to push through.

“It took five years of parliamentary debate to put the Online Safety Act on the books. It’s taken Ofcom more than two years, but they are now implementing and enforcing that act,” he said.

“It’s too long, but we have literally just arrived at a place, after all that time, when the platforms, in order to operate in the UK, if their services are likely to be used by children, have to take steps to ensure the safety of those children.”

He also argued that the act did what a ban couldn’t and is there ‘to be built on’: “If a platform is behaving in an appalling, unsatisfactory, abysmally unsafe manner, it shouldn’t be in this country … A ban [for under-16s] removes the impetus to do that. In fact, what it’s likely to do is have a really chilling effect on the Online Safety Act.”

Ian believes regulation should be sensible and proportionate and added: “I’m not saying we should let 16-year-olds on platforms that encourage irresponsible behaviour. I’m saying we should let 16-year-olds on platforms that are safe for 16-year-olds.”

Molly vs The Machines airs at 9pm tonight on Channel 4.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.