Molly Russell’s family’s five-year wait for answers is set to end as an inquest will finally examine whether algorithms used by social media firms to keep users hooked contributed to her death. Molly, from Harrow, north-west London, is known to have viewed material linked to anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide before ending her life in November 2017, prompting her family to campaign for better internet safety.
Previous hearings have heard how the 14-year-old had engaged with tens of thousands of social media posts in the six months before she died, including content which “raised concerns”. The inquest into her death was delayed in March after thousands of pages of new evidence about her internet history were submitted.
Senior employees from social media giants Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, and Pinterest, are due to give evidence in person at the North London Coroner’s Court in Barnet. The court previously heard how on Twitter, Molly tweeted or retweeted 460 times, liked 4,100 tweets, was following 116 accounts and had 42 followers.
