Online safety watchdog hits suicide forum with £950,000 fine following LBC investigation
The American forum has been linked to more than 130 deaths in the UK
Ofcom has fined the operators of an online suicide forum £950,000 after concluding it failed to protect people in the UK from illegal content encouraging and assisting suicide.
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LBC uncovered that the forum, which we have chosen not to name to avoid the risk of directing vulnerable people towards it, had expanded beyond the website itself and into gaming spaces popular with young people.
During our investigation, LBC discovered the community had spread onto a Minecraft server, raising fresh fears that online spaces widely used by children and teenagers may now be part of the network surrounding the site.
The forum has tens of thousands of members worldwide, including children, and hosts extensive discussions about suicide methods.
Among the material identified by LBC and Ofcom were instructional “guides” and threads detailing different methods of suicide, some of which the regulator said had been pinned or reposted by the provider itself.
Ofcom found the forum’s operators failed to comply with their legal duties under the Online Safety Act to assess and mitigate the risk of UK users encountering illegal suicide content.
The regulator said the site remained accessible in Britain despite attempts to block UK users, including without the use of a VPN.
The forum had introduced a geoblock after Ofcom launched enforcement action, restricting access to two mirrored versions of the site from UK IP addresses.
However, the watchdog found the restrictions were inconsistently applied and ineffective.
Initially, the site even displayed messages advising UK users how to bypass the restrictions.
Although this guidance was later removed, Samaritans subsequently identified a third mirror domain that remained directly accessible to users in the UK.
That discovery prompted Ofcom to continue its investigation as a priority.
The forum’s provider now has 10 working days to comply with Ofcom’s demands.
If it fails to do so, the regulator said it is preparing to seek a court order forcing internet service providers to block access to the site in the UK.
Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s Director of Enforcement, said: “This is a significant fine on a suicide forum known for exploiting the most vulnerable in society.
“It’s caused unimaginable pain and suffering for bereaved families across the UK and beyond, and no punishment can undo that harm.”
She added that the provider was fully aware its platform was being used to share illegal content encouraging and assisting suicide.
“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,” she said.
“Given the ongoing risk of harm, we are using all powers available to us to protect the public.”
The action has been welcomed by suicide prevention charities and bereaved families, though many criticised the pace of enforcement.
Samaritans, which provided evidence to Ofcom during the investigation, warned that restricting one site alone would not eliminate the wider threat posed by harmful online suicide content.
Sarah Ruane, Assistant Director of Influencing at Samaritans, said harmful material would often simply migrate elsewhere online.
“Ofcom must remain vigilant, respond quickly and impose meaningful penalties to platforms that wilfully ignore the Online Safety Act, to prevent more deaths by suicide,” she said.
Families who lost loved ones linked to the forum also accused authorities of moving too slowly.
Adele Zeynep Walton, speaking on behalf of Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms, said families had been “agonisingly waiting for action” while further lives were lost.
“We feel let down by the process and Ofcom’s slow response to this threat to life,” she said.
“The continued existence of this site is a public health crisis, and a fine alone is not enough.”
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said it was “appalling” that bereaved families and campaign groups had been left pushing regulators into action.
“Further lives were lost during this period,” he said
Suzanne Cater, Director of Enforcement at Ofcom, said: "This is a significant fine on a suicide forum known for exploiting the most vulnerable in society. It’s caused unimaginable pain and suffering for bereaved families across the UK and beyond, and no punishment can undo that harm.
"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."
The fine has been commended by the Samaritans, who provided evidence to the watchdog during its investigation.
However, it has urged Ofcom to remain vigilant to prevent further deaths by suicide.
Sarah Ruane, Assistant Director of Influencing at Samaritans: "We’re glad Ofcom took strong action in response to our concerns about this life-threatening online space, demonstrating that sites putting lives at risk will face serious consequences.
"When one site is restricted; however, harmful content will simply be pushed elsewhere online, so tackling individual sites alone will not be enough to keep people safe.
"Ofcom must remain vigilant, respond quickly and impose meaningful penalties to platforms that wilfully ignore the Online Safety Act, to prevent more deaths by suicide."
The forum, in response to Ofcom's investigation, implemented a geoblock to restrict UK IP addresses from accessing two mirrored website URLs. However, at first, this included a message instructing users on how to get around the block.
It removed this messaging, but Samaritans discovered a third mirror site that was directly accessible to people in the UK.
This was taken down, but Ofcom chose to move forward with its investigation, stating that "the fact that the provider is based outside the UK does not mean the forum is outside the scope of the Act".
It is a criminal offence in the UK to intentionally encourage or assist suicide.
Ofcom says: "Content posted with the intent to assist suicide that contains specific, practical or instructional information on suicide methods – such as details on the most effective way of taking one’s own life – is likely to constitute assistance.
"Encouragement with intent could involve someone posting about taking their own life and another user responding with words to the effect of ‘you should do it’ or that they hope the person ‘succeeds’ in taking their own life."
The regulator is now investigating nearly 100 sites and has issued 17 fines against seven companies – totalling nearly £5 million.
Reacting to the action taken by Ofcom, Adele Zeynep Walton, speaking on behalf of Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms, said: “Families like mine have been agonisingly waiting for action against the website that took our loved ones.
“While we’ve waited, further lives have been lost and we’ve had to fight every step.
“We feel let down by the process and Ofcom’s slow response to this threat to life.
“The continued existence of this site is a public health crisis, and a fine alone is not enough.
“We now want to see criminal sanctions against the sinister actors who actively groom, encourage and instruct British people to take their lives.”
Andy Burrows, chief executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “After 13 months of investigation we welcome that Ofcom has taken decisive steps to fine this appalling and deadly forum and will apply to block the site in the courts.
“However, this process has taken an interminable amount of time, and it is appalling that it has been left to bereaved families and campaign groups to press Ofcom into action.
“Molly Rose Foundation submitted detailed evidence which showed scores of vulnerable young people remained at risk while Ofcom’s investigation dragged on. Further lives were lost during this period.”