Britain’s broadcasting regulator on Wednesday announced that it was investigating an online suicide forum that local media say has been linked to at least 50 deaths in the country.
According to the BBC, the forum – which is not being named due to the nature of its content – has been linked to at least 50 deaths in the UK, while one charity said it understood the National Crime Agency (NCA) has linked the site to as many as 97 deaths in the UK.
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”.
It is the first investigation opened 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 last month to take down any illegal content once they became aware of it.
The watchdog said it had made several attempts to work with the service provider and had requested a record of its risk assessment.
A statement said: “We’ve been clear that failure to comply with the new online safety duties or adequately respond to our information requests may result in enforcement action, and that we would not hesitate to take swift action where we suspect there may be serious breaches.
“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.”
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention and online safety charity set up in honour of Molly Russell, the 14-year-old who ended her life after watching suicide content on social media, said Ofcom’s investigation must see the site in question “closed down once and for all”.
“We welcome Ofcom taking the first steps to clamp down on this horrendous site which exists only to help vulnerable people end their lives,” Mr Burrows said.
“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, more lives than were lost in Grenfell.
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“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.”
Ofcom said it was not naming the service provider or the website due to the “nature” of the content.
Reports gathered that the forum is hosted in the United States and has tens of thousands of members, including children.
It said that users discuss methods of suicide, including sharing instructions about how to buy and use a potentially deadly toxic chemical.
Some 50 suicides in Britain have been connected to the forum, the BBC added.
Ofcom could ultimately seek a court order to force the service provider to remove the content if it fails to comply.
They must now show that they have systems and processes in place within their site design, terms of service and moderation teams, that will help protect users from harmful content.
The first set of these codes, which focused on stopping the spread of illegal content – including that which promotes suicide and self-harm – came into force last month.
Sites found to be in breach of the new rules, which will continue to steadily come into force in the coming months, face large fines, or in the most serious cases, Ofcom can request access to a site be blocked.
It could also fine it up to £18 million ($23 million) or an amount equivalent to 10 percent of its global revenue.