Meta defends suicide and self-harm posts seen by Molly Russell

A senior executive for Meta, the company which owns Instagram, has defended content viewed on the platform by a 14-year-old girl shortly before she took her own life.

The family of Molly Russell argue the company should have blocked posts relating to suicide and self-harm but, speaking at the inquest into Molly’s death, Meta’s head of health and wellbeing said it was “safe for people to be able to express themselves”, although she conceded two posts would have violated their policies.