The father of a teenage girl who took her own life is urging Instagram to monitor content.
Molly Russell was 14 when she killed herself in 2017 after viewing graphic content on the Facebook-owned social media site.
Ian, Molly's dad, said she had entered a 'dark rabbit hole of depressive suicidal content', MirrorOnline reports.
Mr Russell from north London said: "I think Molly probably found herself becoming depressed.
"She was always very self-sufficient and liked to find her own answers.
"I think she looked towards the internet to give her support and help.
"She may well have received support and help, but what she also found was a dark, bleak world of content that accelerated her towards more such content."
Mr Russell claimed the algorithms used by some online platforms "push similar content towards you" based on what you have been previously looking at.
He said: "I think Molly entered that dark rabbit hole of depressive suicidal content.
"Some were as simple as little cartoons - a black and white pencil drawing of a girl that said 'Who would love a suicidal girl?'
"Some were much more graphic and shocking."
Mr Russell said he was "really pleased" that Instagram was taking a positive step forward in removing harmful posts but added: "It would be great if they could find a way to take down 10 times the number of posts and really reduce the potentially harmful content that is on their platform."
Andy Burrows, NSPCC head of child safety online policy, said that while Instagram had taken "positive" steps, the rest of the tech industry had been "slow to respond".
"That is why the Government needs to introduce a draft Bill to introduce the Duty of Care regulator by next Easter and commit to ensuring it tackles all the most serious online threats to children," he said.
*Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org
