The safety of minors online must be a “prerequisite, not an afterthought,” according to Prince William, following the British coroner’s finding that social media was a factor in the suicide of a London teen.
In November 2017, Molly Russell, then 14 years old, was discovered dead in her bedroom. She had struggled with depression and had been seeing Instagram posts encouraging self-harm.
Russell’s passing at the time triggered demands for new safeguards for kids online.
Prince William stated that more needed to be done to support the protection of children in a tweet today.
Prince William stated that “online safety for our children and young people needs to be a prerequisite, not an afterthought.”
“What Ian Russell and his family have through is something that no parent should ever have to go through. They have shown such extraordinary bravery.”
Ian Russell, the father of the 14-year-old, demanded that more be done to safeguard kids online.
An inquest into the teen’s death came to a conclusion on Friday (London time), concluding that the teen’s suicide was likely influenced by online posts.
Her father remarked, “It’s time to protect our innocent youth, instead of enabling platforms to capitalise on their users’ suffering for profit.”
According to senior coroner for North London Andrew Walker, the posts “shouldn’t have been accessible to a child to see.”
He said that she committed suicide while experiencing sadness and the harmful impacts of online information.
“Molly was a member of several web publications. She had access to texts, photographs, and video clips that dealt with suicidal ideation, self-harm, and other dark or gloomy topics “.
In response to a teen’s suicide, Prince William speaks out about social media.
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