LETTER FROM LONDON
Her name was Molly Russell, she was 14 years old, spent a lot of time on social networks, like many young people her age: Pinterest, Instagram, WhatsApp… One evening in November 2017, this resident of Harrow, a pleasant suburb of north-west London, committed suicide in her bedroom after an uneventful family meal. Since this tragedy, her parents, Ian and Janet, have campaigned tirelessly for the recognition of the responsibility of the Internet giants in the disappearance of their daughter.
On Friday, September 30, they won their case: after a fortnight of hearing, Andrew Walker, the coroner of the North London Coroners’ Court, an independent body of the police and justice, responsible for to establish the cause and circumstances of a death, concluded that “the negative effects of online content” had “contributed” when Molly died. These contents “were not sure” and “should not have been accessible for a child”, he added. It is the first time in the UK that the Internet giants have been held responsible for the death of a child.
Speaking specifically to Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, Ian Russell, Molly’s father, said at the close of the inquest: “It is time to protect our young people. It’s time for the toxic culture at the heart of the world’s largest social media platforms to change and they can no longer prioritize their profits at the expense of the suffering of young people. » This father Courage who, for five years, has not let go of the Internet giants, also encouraged Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, to listen “people who use its platforms, to listen to the coroner’s findings and act accordingly”.
A teenage girl under negative e-influence
Molly was a normal young girl, she had lots of plans for the future, her parents often said. Her behavior changed about a year before her death: she was more withdrawn, spent more time in her room, but they blamed it on adolescence at first; as their daughter sank into a downward spiral as she viewed large amounts of negative content online. According to the coroner’s inquest, the young girl was bombarded with content related to depression, mutilation or suicide: out of 16,300 pages viewed in the six months preceding her death, she had consulted 2,100 including 138 videos talking about suicide or mutilation.
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