Sarah Vine: Molly Russell’s hero father and why you have to fight these vicious online cowboys

High school girl Molly Russell would have been around 19 if she hadn’t committed suicide in 2017. She is the same age as my daughter. She has just started her big adventure in life and may go to college in a year from college or her first job. Traveling or working abroad.

First serious relationship, first time away from home, excitement and anxiety are equal parts. Hanging around Ikea buying duvet covers and fake potted plants, eating beans on toast for a living, drinking too much at student bingo nights, and getting silly tattoos.

Instead, she’s forever a 14-year-old kid in a school uniform, with an uncertain smile and a child who tragically lost her life. My heart aches for her, and of course, for her family.

But there is also anger. Anger and frustration at the injustices of the world that allow children, gentle and vulnerable young souls like Molly, to be exposed to something far beyond their age and emotional comprehension.

Molly’s story is a modern version of Hamelin’s Pied Piper. Social In her media world, she takes young people through the abyss with her not-so-fun dance, stealing them from their parents, friends, and those who love them. It leaves them isolated, adrift in a swirling sea of ​​algorithms, hitting jagged rocks of melancholy and despair.

That’s why Molly’s father, Ian Russell, is a hero. For five years, he has relived his daughter’s agonizing pain word by word, tweet by tweet, post by post. Thanks to him, the relentless, ruthless ruthlessness of his media giants has been forensically exposed, and any manifestation of their flimsy and arrogant moral correctness has been shattered.

How these sites fueled Molly’s sense of despair, the difference between her being a normal 14-year-old confused teenage girl with her usual questions and worries, and her feeling life had no meaning. is now clearly visible. clear.

The coroner was clear: Molly “died of self-harm while suffering from depression and the ill effects of online content”.

But Mr. Russell isn’t just an advocate for his daughter. He is also the champion of all parents. He speaks for the kids who grew up in the smartphone age, the kids who struggled with the social media Hydra, and all of us who have experienced the uncensored world of the internet and the way Silicon Valley greed destroys it. At least briefly – childhood.

It’s not just suicide forums and self-harm. Online bullying, pile-ons, sexual grooming, criminally dangerous online challenges (the 12-year-old thinks of Archie Battersbee) and, of course, hardcore porn with just a few clicks. over there.

Every day, as parents, we try to exercise this digital gauntlet and protect our children as best we can. Try and inevitably fail. How can I do that? How can we compete with the power of the Internet?

Parents are usually told by parents whose children grew up long before this digital age, “Keep me offline.” Ten years ago, when I had only one foot in the analog world, it might have been possible. But now everything is done through smartphones. Everything from GP appointments to tax returns has to be done digitally.

i hate it. It’s a terrible tyranny. I want to live in the pre-digital world that I grew up in. There, people were actually talking instead of communicating via a keypad. But we are where we are now.

And asking parents to keep their kids off the internet is like asking them to limit the amount of time they breathe. It’s a way to socialize and access entertainment. And it’s not their fault – it’s ours.

That is why we have a duty to protect them. That’s why the Prince of Wales was right when he said online safety should be “a prerequisite, not an afterthought” following the coroner’s verdict.

The online safety bill that has rattled Congress for years should now be a government priority. Liz Truss has already shown that she’s not afraid to make tough and controversial choices.

No ifs, no buts. We need laws to keep future generations from paying for corporate negligence. As Prince William puts it, “parents should never have to put up with what Ian Russell and his family have been through.” law.

The Ugly Truth About Brutal Blondes

I saw Marilyn Monroe’s new movie “Blonde” starring Ana de Armas.

It’s beautifully shot, but it’s also downright brutal, and anyone expecting a story of Hollywood glamour will be disappointed.

I think this is why opinions are divided among viewers. Many viewers are shocked by the darkness.

But what I don’t understand is the outcry from women’s charities accusing the director of “overly sensationalizing” sexual abuse and abortion.

All I can say is they couldn’t see it.

Clever Camilla abandoned the idea of ​​an official lady-in-waiting.

It’s just a small thing, and I’m sure there’s really no shortage of people willing to help her in an informal capacity, but this is how she got it. , and is another example of why she is such an asset to us.

Homeowners aren’t the only ones facing pain from rising interest rates.

A friend of mine who works as a real estate agent in London told me that rents were skyrocketing.

A place that normally costs £380 a week was selling for £420 the other day.

I think it makes sense for landlords who buy and rent to price rising interest rates into the market, but they’re struggling to get on the housing ladder and are currently facing pricing for the ‘generational rent Doesn’t seem very fair to .. totally.

I like Cher, but I don’t like crappy Balmain

From Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz to Kim Kardashian, I don’t understand why so many celebs are obsessed with Balmain.

Pierre Balmain, of course, was the giant of French couture, dressing the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Sophia Loren.

I have a rare vintage Balmain coat that I found in a thrift store many years ago.

But now Balmain seems to consist of oversized, overpriced trainers and crappy, skin-tight pieces that are virtually indistinguishable from the cheap, mass-produced ones you can buy on the main street.

Pudding Proof: Cher turned heads at last week’s Paris runway show.

Obviously, I love Cher. However, she isn’t exactly known for her classy outfits.

The BBC made a big mistake removing Steve Wright from the Radio 2 slot.

He was an absolute giant – funny, smart, endlessly self-deprecating, and the reason so many listeners listened.

I’m sure his replacement, Scott Mills, is perfectly nice, but there’s a lot to be said for that old adage.

Sussex’s ordeal ended short

Whoever takes over the Duke and Duchess’ PR firm (who just ditched Sunshine Sachs, the New York-based outfit that’s been advising the Duchess since her days as an actress on the legal drama Suits), their job is will cease.

Especially when the recent revelations about how the Duchess treats her employees don’t help.

She also has an interesting interview technique by all accounts.

She is said to have been ushered into the (then) Royal Presence. That was the end of the interview.

In this situation, I consider it a lucky escape.

Since I wrote about air fryers last week, many people have emailed me asking which brands I have.

Oddly enough, it’s nothing fancy and doesn’t seem to appear on any of the “top 10 air fryer” lists (perhaps because it’s a pretty basic model).

But it works brilliantly. Tower. No, this is not a sponsored post.