Blame for the death of a schoolgirl who took her own life has been laid squarely at the door of social media companies.

Molly Russell from London died in November 2017 after viewing ‘graphic’ content on platforms including Instagram and Pinterest.

Online material viewed by the 14-year-old in the run up to her death ‘was not safe’, senior coroner Andrew Walker has concluded.

In a hearing which put tech giants in the spotlight, he said material she was consuming in the lead up to her death ‘shouldn’t have been available for a child to see’.

After a five-year wait for answers and campaigning to have the company’s held to account, her family was vindicated during a hearing today.

It was ruled Molly died from an act of self-harm while suffering from ‘depression and the negative effects of online content’.

He said the teenager was ‘exposed to material that may have influenced her in a negative way and, in addition, what had started as a depression had become a more serious depressive illness’.

The coroner added: ‘Molly was at a transition period in her young life which made certain elements of communication difficult.’

She ‘turned to celebrities [online] for help not realising there was little prospect of a reply’.

Mr Walker said found Molly ‘died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content’.

The coroner said some of the content Molly viewed was ‘particularly graphic’ and ‘normalised her condition’, focusing on a ‘limited’ view without any counter-balance.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, told tech giants to ‘get a moral compass and step up’.

The inquest was groundbreaking as it compelled senior executives from technology companies to answer questions under oath.

Elizabeth Lagone, a senior executive at Meta, defended Instagram earlier in the process and said posts described by the Russell family as ‘encouraging’ suicide or self-harm were safe.

The senior executive told the inquest she thought it was ‘safe for people to be able to express themselves’, but conceded a number of posts shown to the court would have violated Instagram’s policies.

Pinterest’s Judson Hoffman conceded the platform was ‘not safe’ when Molly Russell used it, adding that he ‘deeply regrets’ posts the teenager viewed.

Mr Hoffman said Pinterest is ‘safe but imperfect’ as he admitted harmful content still ‘likely exists’ on the site.

NSPCC chief executive Sir Peter Wanless warned the finding must be a ‘turning point’ and took aim at social media firms.

He said: ‘The ruling should send shockwaves through Silicon Valley – tech companies must expect to be held to account when they put the safety of children second to commercial decisions.

‘The magnitude of this moment for children everywhere cannot be understated.

‘Molly’s family will forever pay the price of Meta and Pinterest’s abject failure to protect her from content no child should see, but the Online Safety Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse this imbalance between families and Big Tech.’

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