Instagram ‘wellbeing’ chief insists posts viewed by Molly Russell before death were 'safe'
26 September 2022, 16:50 | Updated: 26 September 2022, 22:12
Instagram’s 'wellbeing' chief has insisted images viewed by Milly Russell prior to her death were ‘safe’ – despite conceding that two images shown to the inquest would have contravened Instagram’s guidelines.
Elizabeth Lagone, head of health and well-being policy at tech giant Meta, said the social media content was a 'nuanced and complicated' area, adding it was 'important to give people that voice' should they feel the need to express suicidal thoughts.
The comments were made during the inquest into 14-year-old Molly Russell’s death.
The family of the schoolgirl, who killed herself in November 2017 following months of viewing content related to suicide and self-harm on the platform have since campaigned for tighter rules surrounding social media content.
Ms Lagone told the inquest the topic of self-harm was an "evolving field" within the world of social media, with the platform’s policies created with users aged 13 and over in mind.
The topic spawned a heated exchange between the Russell's lawyer, Oliver Sanders KC, and the Meta executive, with Sanders exclaiming: "why on earth are you doing this?"
The head of health and well-being at Instagram's parent company Meta apologised for Molly Russell having viewing content on their platform that "violated our policies".
Adding: "We don't want that on the platform."
Referring to one post seen in May 2017, Mr Sanders asked the Meta executive: 'Do you think it helped Molly to see this?'
Ms Lagone said: 'I can't speak to this.'
'Six months after seeing this, she was dead,' Mr Sanders continued.
'I can't speak to the different factors that lead to her tragic loss,' Ms Lagone responded.
The heated exchange comes after Pinterest's head of community operations, Judson Hoffman, apologised after admitting the social media platform was "not safe" when the 14-year-old used it.
The inquest, due to last up to two weeks, continues.
