Ofcom has announced it will not take further legal action against an online suicide forum linked to more than 160 deaths in the UK. The online watchdog said changes made by the forum, whose provider is based in the US, blocking access to people in the UK are “the fullest extent of what can be achieved under the Online Safety Act”.
Jurisdictional Limits Cited
Ofcom said on Monday that further changes to the site “would impact global users, which is beyond UK jurisdiction”, adding that “all possible legal routes under the Act have now been exhausted”. The watchdog said legal grounds are therefore not met to ask a court to “require internet service providers to block UK access to the site”.
The Molly Rose Foundation, which works to prevent suicide by advocating for safer online environments, said the “nihilistic pro-suicide forum” was linked to 164 UK deaths. It added that families and survivors were “left devastated by this incomprehensible decision that means more vulnerable people will continue to be groomed on the site and which will ultimately result in more lost lives”.
Investigation and Fine
The suicide forum was the first service to be investigated by Ofcom under the UK’s online safety laws last year and has been cited in multiple coroners’ reports regarding the deaths of UK citizens. Ofcom said its investigation found illegal suicide content on the forum including instructional guides and threads detailing different methods of suicide – some of which had been present on the site for years.
The operator of the forum was subsequently fined £950,000 in May for failing to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom said the forum had until June 12 to pay its fine and that the watchdog has still not received payment. The forum’s US-based operator previously disputed that it falls under UK jurisdiction, raising questions over whether the fine can be enforced.
Geoblock Implementation
Ofcom said since being fined, the forum made a further change to its geoblock which addressed an issue whereby registered UK users could still log in without a VPN. The watchdog said this meant “the vast majority of UK users who do not use a VPN to mask their country location are now no longer able to access the site”. Ofcom said it recognised that geoblocks “do not fully eliminate all risk of harm, especially for individuals who choose to access sites through VPNs and use them to mask their country location”.
It added it was aware of a “very small number of existing registered users of the forum who, for technical reasons that do not appear linked to the provider’s implementation of the geoblock, are still able to access the site from the UK without using a VPN”. The watchdog said it would closely monitor the forum to check the “geoblock remains in place”.
Legal Powers Exhausted
Ofcom said it did not have the legal powers to apply for a business disruption order for failure to pay a fine alone. It added that it considered applying for a “conditional order” – essentially a pre-emptive court order that would become effective automatically in the event a site removes its geoblock – but the Act does not provide a mechanism to do so.
A spokesperson for Ofcom said: “While, in a narrow set of circumstances, failure to comply with obligations in the Act can give rise to criminal liability, this is not one of them and we cannot pursue criminal proceedings in this case. This means all possible legal routes under the Act have now been exhausted.”
Reactions from Campaigners
Andy Burrows, chief executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “It has taken Ofcom 468 days since launching its investigation to decide not to seek to block a nihilistic, pro-suicide forum responsible for at least 164 deaths, after having to be pushed every step to continue investigating by bereaved families. Families and survivors have been left devastated by this incomprehensible decision that means more vulnerable people will continue to be groomed on the site and which will ultimately result in more lost lives.”
Sarah Ruane, director of policy, practice and influencing at Samaritans, said: “We are extremely disappointed by today’s announcement from Ofcom. After months of investigating this suicide forum, and over three years since the Online Safety Act was passed, we are yet to see meaningful action against some of the most harmful sites online. All today’s announcement does is raise serious questions about whether the Online Safety Act is fit for purpose.”
David Parfett, of Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms, said: “We continue to see suicides where victims have found information on methods online, and often have been encouraged to self-harm. The Online Safety Act in Ofcom’s hands is not working and that’s starkly measured in continued avoidable loss of life.”
Ofcom's Response
Suzanne Cater, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said: “This nihilistic suicide forum, and the predators who use it to prey on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, have devastated lives and inflicted immeasurable heartbreak. We’ve used the powers we’ve been granted to the fullest extent possible, which has resulted in blocking this site for the vast majority of users in the UK. We recognise this may not bring closure for bereaved families but it will help protect people in the UK in the future.”
