The social media site Instagram has said it will remove all graphic self-harm images following the death of a British teenager.
The parents of Molly Russell, 14, said she committed suicide in 2017 after she viewed distressing material about depression and suicide.
Her family saw the posts when they inspected her Instagram use after her death, and concluded the social media giant was partly to blame.
“I have no doubt that Instagram helped kill my daughter,” her father, Ian Russell, said in an interview with the BBC.
Instagram decided on the change after a public outcry following Ms Russell’s suicide.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said the company has not done enough to keep people safe.
“We are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable,” Mr Mosseri said in a meeting with UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
“We will get better and we are committed to finding and removing this content at scale.”
Mr Mosseri said Instagram would be removing the images, “as quickly as we can, responsibly”.
Instagram currently relies on users to report graphic images of self-harm.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
– ABC News
Read more: Instagram to Scrub its Site of all Graphic Self-Harm Images Following Teenage Girl’s Suicide
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