Ian RussellSector leader

Biography

Ian Russell MBE is Co-Founder and Chair of Trustees of the Molly Rose Foundation, a registered charity (no. 1179482) headquartered in Harrow, established in 2018 in memory of his daughter Molly Russell, who died in November 2017 at the age of 14 after being exposed to harmful online content. The foundation's mission is suicide prevention for young people under 25, connecting those at risk to mental health support, and campaigning for tech accountability and safer online environments. Russell gave oral evidence to the Joint Committee on the Online Safety Bill and has written directly to the Prime Minister and Chancellor pressing for stronger online safety legislation. He was appointed MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to child safety online, and is widely quoted in UK press on youth mental health, social media harm, and the implementation of the Online Safety Act.

References

1. 1.Meet The Team Behind Molly Rose Foundation — Confirms Ian Russell's role as Co-Founder and Chair of the Molly Rose Foundation
2. 2.Ian Russell gives evidence to MPs and Peers on improving the Online Safety Bill – UK Parliament — Establishes Russell's parliamentary evidence role and describes the Foundation's purpose
3. 3.Ian Russell is Made MBE for Services to Child Safety Online – Molly Rose Foundation — Confirms MBE award (2024 New Year Honours), investiture at Windsor Castle, and his contribution to the Online Safety Bill
4. 4.Help Protect Children From Online Harm – Molly Rose Foundation — Provides the charity's registered address (Delta House, Phoenix Business Centre, Rosslyn Crescent, Harrow, HA1 2SP) and charity number 1179482
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Mental health

Stated areas of expertise

• Youth suicide prevention
• Online safety and tech accountability
• Child mental health
• Social media regulation
• Online Safety Act implementation

Notable achievements

• Appointed MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to child safety online, received at Windsor Castle from the Prince of Wales. Source ↗
• Gave oral evidence to the Joint Committee on the Online Safety Bill, sharing proposals for improving the draft legislation with MPs and Peers. Source ↗
• Co-founded the Molly Rose Foundation (registered charity 1179482) in 2018, which has distributed almost 300,000 help cards to young people and trained hundreds in Youth Mental Health First Aid. Source ↗
• Wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for urgent government action to protect young people online. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “We're in danger of trying to move too fast and trying to find quick-fix solutions. If there were quick-fix solutions, honestly, we would have found them.”

  father of Molly Russell · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · UK must ‘move now’ to ban social media for under-16s, says Brianna Ghey’s mother ↗

• “He believes that regulation should target algorithms directly, rather than limiting children's access.”

  Founder of the Molly Rose Foundation · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · The Guardian view on regulating big tech: the UK’s new, tougher approach to child safety is overdue ↗

Source references

1. UK must ‘move now’ to ban social media for under-16s, says Brianna Ghey’s mothertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. The Guardian view on regulating big tech: the UK’s new, tougher approach to child safety is overduetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://mollyrosefoundation.org/our-people/
• Websitehttps://mollyrosefoundation.orgpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.