“I think Molly probably ended up depressed,” he told the BBC. “She was always very independent and liked to find her own answers. I think she turned to the internet for support and help.
“She may have had support and help, but what she also found was a dark, dark world of content that accelerated her towards more content of this type.”
Mr Russell claimed that the algorithms used by some online platforms “push similar content to you” based on what you have already watched. “I think Molly walked down that dark rabbit hole of depressive suicidal content.”
I am proud to say here at The Telegraph that we have worked alongside the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for three years now, pushing for duty of care laws that could protect children against “industrial scale” online abuse. . How shameful, how revealing that those who govern Britain do not share our pressing concern.
By the way, the advertisement for Dove, which is owned by Unilever, is called Reverse Selfie and is part of their self-esteem campaign. It shows a young woman posting a fairly standard Good Vibes Only photo of herself looking sexy on social media. Then the film is reversed; we see the filter removed, the adjustments to her hair and mouth undone, the baby-softness restored to her cheeks.
Finally, the makeup disappears and we see that she’s not a sassy boss, she’s a barely teenage girl trying to fit in with social media’s heavily edited selfies and impossible, unattainable beauty ideals.
Barely old enough to hold a sheet of paper and she already feels – knows – that she is not up to it. The final blow is haunting. As a mother of daughters, her sheer fragility breaks my heart.
