UK watchdog launches probe into online suicide forum

LONDON - Britain’s broadcasting regulator on April 9 announced it was investigating an online suicide forum linked to almost 100 deaths in the UK, using new powers to remove harmful content from the internet.

Ofcom said it was looking into whether the site’s service provider “failed to put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its UK users from illegal content and activity”.

The watchdog did not name the website or its host due to the “nature” of the content, but the BBC reported it is hosted in the United States and has tens of thousands of members, including children.

The BBC said the site’s users discuss methods of suicide, including sharing instructions about how to buy and use a potentially deadly toxic chemical.

Britain’s National Crime Agency and a suicide prevention charity said they believed the site is connected to 97 deaths in the UK.

Ofcom’s investigation is the first into an individual service provider under Britain’s Online Safety Act of 2023, which aims to protect adult and child internet users.

Under the Act, service providers had until the middle of March to take down any illegal content once they became aware of it.

“We have made several attempts to engage with this service provider in respect of its duties under the Act and issued a legally binding request to submit the record of its illegal harms risk assessment to us,” Ofcom said in a statement.

“Having received a limited response to our request, and unsatisfactory information about the steps being taken to protect UK users from illegal content, we have today launched an investigation into whether the provider is complying with its legal obligations under the Act.”

BBC reported that the forum is hosted in the United States and has tens of thousands of members, including children.

Ofcom could ultimately seek a court order to force the service provider to remove the content if it fails to comply.

‘Horrendous’

It could also fine it up to £18 million (S$31 million) or an amount equivalent to 10 per cent of its global revenue.

The BBC said it believed some 50 suicides in Britain have been connected to the forum, adding it had been set up in 2018.

The Molly Rose Foundation, named after 14-year-old Molly Russell who ended her life in 2017 after watching suicide content on social media, said it estimated the number of deaths to be at least 97.

“We welcome Ofcom taking the first steps to clamp down on this horrendous site which exists only to help vulnerable people end their lives,” said chief executive Andy Burrows.

“Every day it remains online more vulnerable people are at risk. We cannot afford any delay in shutting a site linked to the deaths of around 100 people.

“Ofcom will be judged not simply by them firing the starting gun, but by whether they act quickly and decisively to get this site closed down once and for all,” he added.

UK government statistics released on April 9 showed that 5,690 suicides were registered in England last year, slightly higher than the 5,656 in 2023. AFP