Molly Russell's father has 'lost faith' in Ofcom over online safety

The father of Molly Russell, a teenager who killed herself after viewing harmful online content, has called for a change in leadership at the UK's communications watchdog after losing faith in its ability to make the internet safer for children.

- Dan Milmo Global technology editor

Ian Russell, whose 14 year-old daughter took her own life in 2017, said Ofcom had “repeatedly” demonstrated that it did not grasp the urgency of keeping under-18s safe online and was failing to implement new digital laws forcefully.

“I’ve lost confidence in the current leadership at Ofcom,” he told the Guardian. “They have demonstrated they don’t grasp the urgency of this task and they don’t seem to be willing to use their powers to the extent that is required.”

Russell’s comments came in the same week the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, wrote to Ofcom saying she was “deeply concerned” about delays in rolling out parts of the Online Safety Act (OSA), a landmark piece of legislation laying down safety rules for social media, search and video platforms.

Russell, who has become an internet safety campaigner, said that last year he raised concerns with Ofcom’s chief executive, Melanie Dawes, about an online suicide forum accessible to UK users.