Molly Russell, 14, killed herself after viewing images of self-harm on social media PAThe father of a teenager who killed herself after viewing self-harm images on social media has urged tech companies to give their data to researchers. Ian Russell is challenging providers including Facebook and Instagram after a report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists that called for an independent regulator to manage the sharing of data with mental health experts at universities. Mr Russell, 57, who wrote the report’s foreword, said: “Molly’s suicide smashed like a wrecking ball into my family life.”He said that on his daughter’s social media, “among the usual schoolfriends, pop groups and celebrities followed by 14-year-olds, we found bleak depressive material, graphic self-harm content and suicide-encouraging memes. I have no doubt that social media helped kill my daughter.”Mr Russell detailed…

Source: The Times January 17, 2020 00:38 UTC