UK watchdog probes online suicide forum

LONDON: Britain’s broadcasting regulator on Wednesday announced that it was investigating an online suicide forum that local media says has been linked to at least 50 deaths in the country.

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.

“We have made several attempts to engage with this service provider in respect of its duties under the act and issued a legally binding request to submit the record of its illegal harms risk assessment to us,” Ofcom said in a statement.

“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.”

Ofcom said it was not naming the service provider or the website due to the “nature” of the content.

The BBC reported 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.

It could also fine it up to £18 million ($23 million) or an amount equivalent to 10 percent of its global revenue.