A child psychiatrist has told the Molly Russell inquest the self-harm material viewed on social media by the teenager before she died left him “not able to sleep well for a few weeks”.
Dr Navin Venugopal said the “very disturbing, distressing” content Molly had engaged with would “certainly affect her and made her feel more hopeless”, as he gave evidence at North London Coroner’s Court.
Molly, from Harrow in northwest London, was 14 when she ended her life in November 2017, prompting her family to campaign for better internet safety.
She was found dead in her bedroom after viewing online content linked to anxiety, depression and self-harm.
Asking the witness about what effect the material would have had on Molly, coroner Andrew Walker said the material seems to “romanticise, glamorise, and take the subject of self-harm – take it away from reality and make it seem almost unreal”.
“You have looked at the material, do you think that the material that Molly viewed had any impact on her state of mind?” he asked the psychiatrist.
Dr Venugopal replied: “I suppose I will start off, I will talk about the effect the material had on my state of mind.
“I had to see it over a short period of time and it was very disturbing, distressing.
“There were periods where I was not able to sleep well for a few weeks so bearing in mind that the child saw this over a period of months I can only say that she was (affected) – especially bearing in mind that she was a depressed 14-year-old.”
Instagram account using Molly’s picture removed
Dr Venugopal told the inquest he saw no “positive benefit” to the material viewed by the teenager before she died.
On Tuesday, proceedings were paused for a few moments as the family’s lawyer Oliver Sanders KC told the court a “rather unpleasant” Instagram account had been set up using an image of Molly as its profile picture.
A spokesman for Meta said in a statement that the account has been “removed from Instagram for violating our policies”.
Mr Sanders took Dr Venugopal through a number of videos viewed by Molly on Instagram, followed by a note written by the teenager on her phone two days after watching one clip which used “identical language”.
‘Seeing these sorts of things could have an impact’
Dr Venugopal told the court: “If they are of that mindset and are seeing these sorts of things, it could have an impact.”
The head of health and well-being at Instagram’s parent company Meta and the head of community operations at Pinterest have both apologised at the inquest for content Molly viewed.
Meta executive Elizabeth Lagone said she believed posts which the Russell family argued “encouraged” suicide were safe when the teenager viewed them.
Pinterest’s Judson Hoffman told the inquest the site was “not safe” when Molly used it.
The inquest, due to last up to two weeks, continues.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. Alternatively, letters can be mailed to: Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS.
