Bereaved families and survivors of a pro-suicide forum have called for a public inquiry into the government’s failure to prevent harm linked to the online platform, following a report that found coroners had raised concerns at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019.
The report, published by the Molly Rose Foundation, established after the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, found that a substance promoted as a suicide method on such platforms has been linked to at least 133 deaths in the UK, with the youngest victim aged 13. The Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology all failed to act on the warnings, according to the analysis.
In a letter to the prime minister, the group Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms said loved ones were “let down by a state that was too slow to respond”. Signatories included the family of Aimee Walton, who died after accessing pro-suicide content. The group said: “This series of failings requires a statutory response, not just to understand why our loved ones died but also to prevent more lives being lost.”
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said the report “paints clear how repeated failures of the state to protect its vulnerable citizens mean that the nihilistic potential of a suicide forum has cost countless lives”. He added: “It is inexplicable that Ofcom has left the fate of a forum that exists to groom and coerce others to end their lives in its own hands rather than take swift action to legally shut it down. Nothing less than a public inquiry is now needed.”
A government spokesperson said: “Under the Online Safety Act, services must take action to prevent users from accessing illegal suicide content. The substance in question is closely monitored and reportable under the Poisons Act.” An Ofcom spokesperson said the forum had implemented a geoblock restricting UK access, but that it remains under investigation.
