Molly vs the Machines
Before she took her own life at the age of 14, Molly Russell had access to thousands of harmful posts on Instagram and Pinterest. The film reconstructs the investigation during which her father discovers that algorithms were recommending suicidal content to his daughter. Her father says that life before Molly’s death was completely normal. After her death, he became a leading campaigner for better protection of children online. Molly’s last message to her friend Nieve was two laughing emojis. She felt depressed, but no one suspected how deeply. They were also unaware of the content that algorithms were feeding to Molly. The film recreates moments from the investigation which found that social media content contributed “more than minimally” to Molly’s death. The director also speaks with whistleblowers from technology companies.
