Social media content contributed to teenager’s death “in more than a minimal way,” says coroner

Pressure is growing for action to protect young people from online harm after a coroner ruled that social media content had contributed to the death of the north London teenager Molly Russell.

In the first British inquest verdict to blame social media content for playing a part in a suicide, coroner Andrew Walker ruled that the harmful material had contributed to 14 year old Molly’s death in 2017. Rather than classify her death as suicide, he said she “died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the …