Prince William writes to family of girl who took her own life

Prince William has written to the family of a schoolgirl who said Instagram was partly to blame for their daughter taking her own life.

Molly Russell, 14, was found dead in her bedroom in November 2017 after viewing online content that promoted self-harm.

Her father, Ian Russell, said Instagram "helped kill my daughter".

William's letter, which Kensington Palace said was sent on Wednesday, follows comments he made in November about the responsibility social media firms have to tackle harmful content.

During a speech, he accused tech giants of being "on the back foot" in tackling cyber bullying and online hate speech.

He added: "The noise of shareholders, bottom lines, and profits is distracting them from the values that made them so successful in the first place."The Duke of Cambridge has also described anonymity online as "really, really dangerous".Mr Russell's comments following his daughter's death sparked a debate about how social media companies monitor potentially harmful content.In January, Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrote to a number of companies, urging them to "purge" such content.But Sky News recently found numerous disturbing videos and pictures on Instagram, a month after it had promised to remove graphic images of self-harm.

(SKY NEWS)