Matt Hancock: ‘Facebook and Instagram will be banned if they fail to act over suicide content’ The Health Secretary said he was prepared to introduce new legislation if the internet giants did not “change their ways”.

Matt Hancock has threatened to ban social media companies who fail to stop the spread of online content about suicide and self-harm following the death of teenager Molly Russell.

The Health and Social Care Secretary said he was prepared to introduce new legislation if companies such as Facebook and Instagram did not “change their ways”. Mr Hancock has written to the social media giants urging them to “purge” content that has been blamed for the death of 14-year-old Molly.

She was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017 after showing “no obvious signs” of severe mental health issues. Her family later found she had been viewing material on social media linked to anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide. Her father, Ian, gave an emotional interview on TV last week stating that Instagram had “helped kill my daughter”.

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When asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday if he could change Instagram’s mind by writing them a letter, Mr Hancock said: “Oh yes and we must. I feel so strongly about this… I’m an enthusiast for technology, but we’ve got to make sure the risks are mitigated and we can act.”

He said he “absolutely” has the power to compel the social media companies to act.

“We are a nation state. Parliament is sovereign, as we’re discovering the Brexit process. We can legislate if we need to,” Mr Hancock said. “It would be far better to do it in concert with the social media companies, but if we think they need to do thinks that they are refusing to do then we can, and we must, legislate. We are masters of our own fate as a nation and we must act to make sure this amazing technology is used for good.”

Sanctions

When asked about threatening to ban companies who do not change their ways, Mr Hancock said: “Ultimately Parliament does have that sanction, yes. It’s not where I’d like to end up in terms of banning them, because there’s a great positive to social media too, but we run our country through Parliament and we will and we must act if we have to.”

Mr Hancock said he was “horrified” to learn of Molly’s death, and feels “desperately concerned to ensure young people are protected”.

In his letter to the companies, he said: “I welcome that you have already taken important steps, and developed some capabilities to remove harmful content. But I know you will agree that more action is urgently needed.

“It is appalling how easy it still is to access this content online and I am in no doubt about the harm this material can cause, especially for young people. It is time for internet and social media providers to step up and purge this content once and for all.

“I want to work with internet and social media providers to ensure the action is as effective as possible. However, let me be clear that we will introduce new legislation where needed.”

The Government is developing a white paper addressing “online harms”, which will look at content on suicide and self-harm. An inquest into Molly’s death is expected later this year.

Online harms

An Instagram spokesperson said the company does not allow content that promotes or encourages eating disorders, self-harm or suicide and uses technology to find and remove it.

“Mental health and self-harm are complex and nuanced issues, and we work with expert groups who advise us on our approach. They tell us that the sharing of a person’s mental health struggle or connecting with others who have battled similar issues, can be an important part of recovery. This is why we don’t remove certain content and instead offer people looking at, or posting it, support messaging that directs them to groups that can help.”

The spokesperson said Instagram is undertaking a “full review” of its enforcement policies and technologies around self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.