How Prince William Is Supporting Family of Teen Who Died by Suicide: Source
Prince William is set to write a letter to the parents of a 14-year-old girl who died by suicide after viewing self-harm images on social media sites.
Molly Russell died in 2017, and her family believes that she may have taken her life after viewing distressing images online, the BBC reported. Her father has also shared his belief that Instagram is “partly responsible.”
In a statement to the BBC, Instagram said it “does not allow content that promotes or glorifies self-harm or suicide and will remove content of this kind.”
Now, the coroner handling the inquest into her death has contacted Facebook, which owns Instagram, and Pinterest, YouTube and Apple to request information from them, The Sunday Times reports.
As the inquest takes place this week, William, 36, plans to “get in touch and offer sympathy and show support” to the family, a royal source tells PEOPLE.
Cyberbullying is something that the prince has been concerned about for several years and in 2016 he set up the Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying, which brought together players from the online, tech and youth sectors to see what measures could be taken to combat the rise in harassment and the alienation felt by some young people online.
“This is something he feels passionate about and he wanted to show his support,” the royal source adds.
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When his cyberbullying task force wound up last year, William expressed his frustration at the tech companies for not doing enough to “own the issue” and recognize the problems faced by some of the youngest users of the platforms.
In a speech at the BBC at the time, he said the tech companies should “reject the false choice of profits over values.”
“You have powered amazing movements of social change. Surely together you can harness innovation to allow us to fight back against the intolerance and cruelty that has been brought to the surface by your platforms.”
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In February 2018, William also surprised students at a London school to discuss cyberbullying.
“I worry for you girls,” he told students at Burlington Danes Academy during a midday assembly.
Speaking with teens Samara Hackett-Valton and Sophie Crowder, William said he has real concerns over body image and how women are portrayed online.
“The touched-up pictures are not real,” he said. “Don’t try to recreate them or think that’s what you’ve got to aim for. There’s a lot of fakeness online so don’t worry about that.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
