The Molly Rose Foundation, a charity dedicated to advocating for internet safety, has recently garnered attention for its significant financial support from major tech companies Meta and Pinterest. The foundation was established in the memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who died by suicide. Yet in a span of about 10 weeks, it has quickly become a powerful advocate for addressing the dangers of unregulated social media platforms.
Molly’s family has been vocal about their decision to refrain from accepting any financial compensation linked to their daughter’s death. This position emphasizes their dedication to ensure Molly’s legacy lives on through policy change not profit. Rather than look for blame, they’ve focused their advocacy on ensuring young people experience a safer internet.
During the past nine months, the Molly Rose Foundation has grown its small but mighty team of heroes. To that end, it has recently hired on a new chief executive officer, two public policy managers, a chief communications officer and a development manager. This expansion is a testament to the organization’s commitment to strengthen its message and impact in the ever-evolving space of online safety.
Its mission is to call the social media companies to improve their accountability for their incremental roles of protecting their users, particularly children. Whatever is motivating Meta, the company is finding itself under increasing scrutiny. Instead, critics, regulators and lawmakers are focusing on the dangers that its practices inherently create for youth navigating the online milieu.
The charity’s annual report indicates that it has received large grants from anonymous foundations. Perhaps most interestingly, though, is that both Meta and Pinterest gave massively. The integrity of these donors’ wishes is very important to the foundation, as is carrying on the work to which they dedicated their lives.
“The Molly Rose Foundation has received grants from donors that wish to remain anonymous. Having considered their obligations, the Trustees have agreed to respect these wishes.” – The Molly Rose Foundation’s annual report
That’s why the Molly Rose Foundation is already working to ensure that the Online Safety Act is stronger. They are pumping energy into passing stricter legislation to more effectively protect youth online. The charity is urging the government to move with haste. They call for efforts to advance common sense legislation to make the digital world a safer space.
“Following the coroner’s inquest into Molly’s death, we have decided that we will pursue the aims we share with Meta and Pinterest through the Molly Rose Foundation to help ensure young people have a positive experience online, instead of pursuing legal action. We, Molly’s family, have always made clear that we would never accept compensation consequent upon Molly’s death.” – Molly’s family’s solicitor
The foundation’s dedication to internet safety dovetails nicely with its continuing discussion with social media behemoths. It still stands ready to push back against harmful policies from Meta. We know that working together can sometimes be the best path to driving real change.