The British government has repeatedly failed to act on official warnings about a website that promotes suicide and has been linked to at least 50 deaths in the UK, according to an investigation by the BBC. The forum, which cannot be named here, is accessible to anyone online, including children. Although multiple warnings were given to the authorities by coroners and through police investigations, the website remains active. The families of victims are now calling for an inquiry into the authorities’ failure to act, which they say has led to further avoidable deaths.
The forum’s founders remain unknown, but the BBC did manage to track down one of them to his home in the US. The government was first made aware of the forum in December 2019, after the suicide of forum member Callie Lewis. Lewis, who had been assessed as autistic and suffered from chronic depression, had used the site to research a new method of suicide and to buy the tools she later used to end her life.
At least six coroners have subsequently written to UK government departments demanding action to shut down the site. Five police forces have investigated deaths linked to the forum, but have been unable to take action as the site is hosted abroad and operates anonymously. More than 40,000 members worldwide belong to the site, with more than two million messages posted, many of them graphic and distressing.
Only last month, the forum included a post from a young person in another country who had received a package by courier that contained poison. Another user posted a photo of a hotel room where he was planning his suicide. Other members offered encouragement, saying “good luck” or “godspeed”. Crucially, no-one knows who is currently running the site.
The investigation highlights the inadequacy of existing laws, and calls for a major review of online safety and a crackdown on such sites. Resources are needed for the police and social media companies to tackle this issue, say campaigners
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