Last week, a United Kingdom coroner's court ruled that British teen Molly Russell died in 2017 "from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content". The coroner determined that the social media content contributed to her death in a "more than minimal way".

The court heard that on Instagram, the 14-year-old had saved, liked or shared over 16,000 Instagram posts including photos and videos romanticising self-harm and suicide. Some 2,000 were found to be sad, gloomy and depressing images. Pinterest had prompted her with e-mails recommending content such as "10 depression pins you might like".

Her father is determined to ensure that she did not die in vain and has called out social media platforms for their negligence and culpability. Hopefully, this verdict will be a crucial turning point on the liability of tech companies for online safety, especially for teens and children.


To read the full article, click here.



Lim Sun Sun is professor of communication and technology at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and author of Transcendent Parenting: Raising Children In The Digital Age (2020). Chew Han Ei is senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore.

Top photo from Freepik.