Ian Russell, the dad of 14-year-old Molly who took her own life in 2017 after being bombarded by online hate, spoke to The Mirror about his fears about Ofcom’s new rules for social media firms
Molly Russell’s dad has blasted new online safety rules and told how he is scared for today’s children.
Ian Russell said no family should have to go through the grief of losing a child like he did when Molly took her own life at 14 after being bombarded with online hate.
He says he is “beyond disappointed” with rules published by Ofcom on Thursday which are designed to force tech firms to keep kids safe. Mr Russell said: “The steps they’ve taken are so small, the speed at which they’re moving is so slow…there’ll be another tragedy like Molly’s, it’s distressing.”
He said nothing had changed since Molly was found dead at home in Harrow, north west London, in 2017 after seeing material online about suicide and self-harm.
READ MORE: Major plan to switch off kids’ social media while they’re at school being looked at
“The thing I’m most scared of is the children of now still coping with the sort of harms Molly saw eight years ago,” he said. “If nothing changes then children are still endangered by what they encounter online.”
Mr Russell said he did not trust social media firms to make platforms safe and urged Keir Starmer to fight for kids online.
“What is needed is for the Prime Minister to champion online safety,” he said. “The lead has to come from Keir himself. There’s never really been a Prime Minister who’s championed online safety and it’s time there was.”
Mr Russell, who runs the Molly Rose Foundation charity in Molly’s memory, added: “It’s that memory of Molly that perhaps drives me on. I know that if she was here now, she would be fighting for what she would passionately believe to be right, which is that young people should be better protected from the harms that they might find online, so that they could go forward to live the lives they deserve to live.”
At her inquest in 2022, a coroner found social media content contributed “more than minimally” to her death and that the images of self-harm and suicide she viewed “shouldn’t have been available for a child to see”.
Ofcom’s new children’s code instructs firms how not to break the Online Safety Act which became law in 2023 but is still not being fully enforced. By July, companies must ensure they tame toxic algorithms, take faster action on removing harmful content and introduce age checks.
If they don’t, they could be fined up to 10% of global revenue or have access to their sites banned in the UK.
But campaigners have pointed out loopholes and children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says the rules appear “to prioritise the business interests of technology companies over children’s safety”.
:: Contact the Samaritans for mental health support on 116 123, email at josamaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster