Prince William says online safety must be priority following Molly Russell death

The Prince of Wales has said that “no parent should ever have to endure” what Molly Russell’s family have been through.

After the conclusion of her inquest, Prince William added that online safety among children and young people should be a priority, not an afterthought.

On Friday, coroner Andrew Walker concluded that Molly had died while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.

In a message of condolence to Molly’s family on Twitter, Prince William said: “No parent should ever have to endure what Ian Russell and his family have been through.

“They have been so incredibly brave. Online safety for our children and young people needs to be a prerequisite, not an afterthought.”

Molly took her own life in 2017 after looking at content related to suicide, depression and anxiety online. Coroner Walker said that the images she viewed “shouldn’t have been available for a child to see”.

After the coroner’s ruling, Molly’s father, Ian Russell, made a direct plea to Meta to stop publishing a “demented trail of life-sucking content”.

He said he hoped that the coroner’s conclusions would be an “important step in bringing about much-needed change”.

At the inquest, lawyers acting on behalf of Molly’s family had argued that sites such as Pinterest and Instagram recommended accounts or posts that “promoted” suicide or self-harm.

Molly had saved, shared or liked 2,100 posts on Instagram related to depression, self-harm or suicide in the six months leading up to her death.

Molly’s father said his message to Instagram – and Facebook – boss Mark Zuckerberg would be: “Just to listen. Listen to the people that use his platform, listen to the conclusions the coroner gave at this inquest and then do something about it.”

Mr Russell added later: “We have heard a senior Meta executive describe this deadly stream of content the platform’s algorithms pushed to Molly as ‘safe’ and not contravening the platform’s policies.

“If this demented trail of life-sucking content was safe, my daughter Molly would probably still be alive and, instead of being a bereaved family of four, there would be five of us looking forward to a life full of purpose and promise that lay ahead for our adorable Molly.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales offered Mr Russell their condolences while visiting the Troubadour White City Theatre in west London almost two years ago.

The prince asked him: “Do you think companies like Instagram are doing enough?”

Mr Russell also disclosed that William had been in touch with the family to offer his support.

William has aimed to tackle mental health struggles through the Heads Together campaign, which encourages the nation to talk about their psychological problems.

In February 2018, during a trip to Ark Burlington Danes Academy in White City, he warned pupils about the online pressures young women face and the “fakeness” of the cyber world.