Molly Russell’s father ‘losing trust’ in minister over online safety
Ian Russell said the lack of movement from the Government to reinforce the Online Safety Act is making bereaved parents ‘angry’.
The father of Molly Russell said he and other bereaved parents are “losing trust” in Technology Secretary Peter Kyle over the rollout of online safety laws in the UK.
Ian Russell said “nothing’s changed” in terms of online safety in the more than seven years since his daughter Molly chose to end her life aged 14, in 2017, after viewing harmful content on social media.
The Online Safety Act has passed into law, and from this year will require tech platforms to follow new Ofcom-issued codes of practice to keep users safe online, particularly children, with large fines and site blockages among the penalties for those who break the rules.
But many campaigners have criticised Ofcom’s approach to the new laws, warning it has taken too long to implement, gives tech firms too much scope to regulate themselves, and that the laws are not strong enough to prevent online harm occurring.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC’s Online Safety Day, Mr Russell, who along with his family set up the Molly Rose Foundation in his daughter’s name after her death, said: “The Government haven’t really done anything. This is a really tough thing… Seven years down the road, I would say nothing’s changed, in my experience.
“Nothing of significance has changed. The sort of content that Molly saw, that a coroner concluded led to the end of her life, in a more than minimal way, is still easily available online.”
He said online safety campaigners have seen a lack of response from the Government over concerns the new laws do not go far enough to protect young people online, and as a result they are losing trust in the minister.
“I’m losing trust with Peter Kyle, and I know all the bereaved parents that I’ve connected with are losing trust,” Mr Russell said. “Some more than me. Some are really angry.
“We have met Peter. He was very quick to meet the bereaved families. Within the first week of forming a Government, we were in his office talking to him. It all sounded really hopeful.
“We’re now months into government, and we’re hearing things in the papers where it doesn’t sound like he’s even considering a strengthened Online Safety Act two, which we all agree is needed, and 85% of parents we surveyed this week think is needed.
“Yet in the press this week, Peter Kyle is saying that ‘mmm, that isn’t on my agenda’. Now, I hope that’s wrong. I hope he will clarify this and say otherwise. But at the moment, we’re really, really disappointed.”
Mr Russell also said the codes of practice he had seen from Ofcom are “not robust enough” and that the regulator had “stayed safely in the middle” of the boundaries of the new rules.
“We’ve seen the codes of practice, seen the Ofcom regulations, the way they’re enforcing that, we know that they’re not being robust enough,” he said.
“Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom, will tell you that they couldn’t have done anything more as a regulator.
“Well, maybe there’s a problem with all of regulation in that case, because there’s an awful lot we believe that they could have done.”
