Social media ‘needs to take urgent action’
The father of Molly Russell, the teenager who took her own life after viewing disturbing material online, has urged social networks to take action immediately and not drag their feet until a regulator is introduced.
Ian Russell, who now runs the Molly Rose Foundation in memory of his daughter, spoke alongside the NSPCC in calling for swift changes within tech giants, six weeks after the government unveiled its online harms White Pap er, designed to make companies more accountable for the content on their platforms.
“The clock does keep ticking ,” Mr Russell warned.
“Harmful content on Instagram still comes and goes, sometimes hidden behind privacy screens that blur the blood and the scars, and sometimes not.
Mr Russell said social networks should not use the time taken by the government to decide on how to regulate as “a mechanism for delaying change”, adding that “profit must play a secondary role to positive action”.