Father says ‘decisive steps are encouraging’ but calls on other social media to follow suit
MOLLY RUSSELL’S father has welcomed Instagram’s ban on self-harm images, as he called for other social media companies to act.
Ian Russell urged Instagram to “act swiftly” to implement its new measures aimed at protecting young people on the site.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced yesterday that the company would be banning all graphic images of self-harm after facing weeks of intense pressure over its policy on harmful content.
Last month, Mr Russell accused Instagram of “helping to kill” his 14-yearold daughter Molly, after it emerged that she had been looking at suicide and self-harm images on the social network in the lead up to taking her own life in November 2017. Responding to Instagram’s announcement, Mr Russell said: “I welcome the commitment made today by Adam Mosseri to ban all graphic self-harm content from Instagram.
“I also welcome their plans to change their search mechanisms in relation to self-harm and suicide-related content and to increase the help and support it provides to its users.
“It is encouraging to see that decisive steps are now being taken to try to protect children from disturbing content on Instagram and I hope that the company acts swiftly to implement these plans and make good on their commitments.
“It is now time for other social media platforms to take action to recognise the responsibility they too have to their users if the internet is to become a safe place for young and vulnerable people.”
His comments came as social media bosses, including Mr Mosseri, met with Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, to explain how they will clean up harmful content on their sites.
Instagram’s ban is a sharp departure from the company’s original policy, which had been to only remove selfharm and suicide images that actively encouraged others to hurt themselves.
Following Mr Russell’s accusation over his daughter’s death, Instagram had initially said it only planned to blur graphic self-harm images with “sensitivity screens” that users would still be able to click through.