A nihilistic internet suicide forum based in the United States, which has been implicated in over 160 deaths in the United Kingdom, has been fined £950,000 by the online regulator Ofcom in its latest effort to shut it down. The fine is being levied under the Online Safety Act, a piece of legislation that also grants Ofcom the authority to seek a court order requiring internet service providers to block UK access to the site.
Ofcom stated that the website remained accessible in the UK despite more than a year of warnings. Online safety campaigners have criticised the regulator for what they describe as an “interminable” delay in taking action. The Samaritans, mental health campaigners, and the Molly Rose Foundation have repeatedly raised concerns about the site, which has been cited in multiple coroners’ reports concerning the deaths of UK citizens.
The Molly Rose Foundation was established in memory of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who took her own life after being exposed to a spiral of negative online content, including material about suicide. Its chief executive, Andy Burrows, welcomed the fine and a separate move that could block UK internet access to the site, but expressed dismay that “it has been left to bereaved families and campaign groups to press Ofcom into action”.
Ofcom has been attempting to compel the site to comply with British laws that criminalise intentionally encouraging or assisting suicide since last spring. The regulator had some success when the site was blocked in July and a mirror site was taken down in November. However, Ofcom is now taking further action because the site can be “used by people in the UK, including without a VPN, and presents a material risk of significant harm”.
The regulator accused the provider of “serious and deliberate contraventions” and stated that the fine reflects “the risk of fatal harm to people in the UK posed by the content present on the service”. Ofcom is preparing an application to have the site’s connections effectively cut “if our concerns are not fully addressed and there continues to be an ongoing breach”.
On Wednesday, the forum was unavailable, but its operator posted a page advocating for “the right to access lawful information without government overreach” and quoted Mark Twain: “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”
The Molly Rose Foundation and Together with Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms noted that coroners had warned the UK government 65 times about the risks of further deaths from the forum “and a substance it promotes, glorifies and instructs for use as a suicide method”.
Adele Zeynep Walton, the sister of Aimee Walton who took her life after accessing suicide forums, described the wait for action as agonising. “While we’ve waited further lives have been lost and we’ve had to fight every step,” she said, speaking on behalf of Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms. “We feel let down by the process and Ofcom’s slow response to this threat to life.”
Andy Burrows added: “Molly Rose Foundation submitted detailed evidence which showed scores of vulnerable young people remained at risk while Ofcom’s investigation dragged on … There are real questions about why it has taken so long for the regulator to act against a forum linked to at least 164 UK deaths.”
Ofcom stated that it had “engaged extensively” with the forum provider and that last summer the forum had geoblocked mirror sites in the UK and later removed information on a landing page promoting ways to circumvent the block. A spokesperson said: “We share the urgency about the extreme harms that sites such as this can cause, and understand the anger felt towards them by those who have been so personally affected. It is vital that we ensure our enforcement action is thorough, and this can take time, as is the case for any enforcement agency.”
Campaign groups released a report last year detailing the victims: “Lucas was 16. Vlad 17. Aimee 21. Grace, Hannah and Tom 22. Immy 25. Adam 28 and Claire 41. They were drawn into a dark world that was allowed to exist online and continues to exist through the use of a VPN. We believe our loved ones suffered coercion, grooming, instruction on how to end their lives. Most accessed a poison that was allowed to cross borders or was readily available domestically.”
Suzanne Cater, the director of enforcement at Ofcom, said the forum had “caused unimaginable pain and suffering … and no punishment can undo that harm”. She added: “The provider of this forum knows it’s used to share illegal content encouraging and assisting suicide on their site. While they’ve responded to our enforcement action by making some changes to the accessibility of their service in the UK, this is not good enough and the changes they’ve made were not consistently applied or effective to reduce the risk of harm. Given the ongoing risk of harm, we are using all powers available to us to protect the public.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
