U.K. coroner finds "negative effect" of Instagram, Pinterest content contributed to teen Molly Russell's suicide death
CBSN
London — A coroner in London concluded Friday that social media was a factor in the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in November 2017 after viewing large amounts of online content about self-harm and suicide on platforms including Instagram and Pinterest.
"It's likely the material viewed by Molly… affected her mental health in a negative way and contributed to her death in a more than minimal way," senior coroner Andrew Walker said Friday according to British media outlets. "It would not be safe to leave suicide as a conclusion. She died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content."
Walker said he would prepare a "prevention of future deaths" report and write to Pinterest and Meta (the parent company of Instagram) as well as the British government and Ofcom, the U.K.'s communications regulator.
