Keep on track to make internet safe, Molly’s dad tells ministers
THE father of tragic schoolgirl Molly Russell warned ministers not to backtrack on making the internet safer for children.
Prime Minister Liz Truss and Conservative MPs have voiced concerns that the Online Safety Bill threatens free speech.
But Ian Russell urged ministers to stay the course. He said: “The age of selfregulation on internet platforms must be ended for the sake and safety of our children.”
Molly, 14, viewed masses of bleak material on social media in secret about suicide, self-harm and depression.
She kept her torment from her parents before killing herself at her home in Harrow, north-west London, in 2017.
At her inquest last week senior coroner Andrew Walker said material viewed by her on sites like Instagram and Pinterest “was not safe” and “should not have been available for a 14-year-old child to see”.
Mr Russell said: “The politicians have said that they’ll do something about it in the bill but it still hasn’t made it out of the House of Commons.
“I think it’s a very complicated Bill. It’s a whole new form of regulation.
Assured
“It’s full of legal clauses and it’s hard to read. I think people are being very cautious.
“It’s really important that something which is illegal in the offline world must be illegal – and we must be better protected – when it’s found in the online world.”
Mr Russell said he has been assured by Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, that the Bill will get a third reading in the Commons before Christmas.
He said: “She wanted to reassure me that the Government took this
Bill very seriously, it wasn’t going to be put on the back foot, it wasn’t going to be watered down.
“In fact, they were going to strengthen measures to protect children online.”
Mr Russell told
BBC’s Today programme his family had no idea about Molly’s depression, and that “she didn’t seem like a socialmedia person”.
He urged worried parents to “be direct” with their children. Mr Russell said: “The most important thing as a family is to find a way to cross the generations, so that the parents can keep a channel of communication going. “That transition that happens, from being a child to being an adult, those teenage years, are some of the hardest years that we all live through.
“It’s really important to not try and push anything that’s a wedge between the generations and keep talking...talking about mental health, suicide, if you need to. “If you have worries about a child, I’ve learnt since Molly’s death, don’t keep them to yourself. “Be direct and talk to your child about it.” ●●For help, visit the site samaritans.org or you can call them for free on 116 123.