Social media giant Facebook has recently introduced a new suicide prevention button. It enables an instant chat session connecting the help seeker to a team of experts from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The application is only available in the United States and Canada so far.
„One of the big goals here is to get the person in distress into the right help as soon as possible,“ Fred Wolens, public policy manager at Facebook, told The Associated Press. So far, Facebook has directed users to the hotline or encouraged friends to act if they thought someone was in trouble.
With the new report button in place, it is now possible for a concerned visitor to mark a post as ‘suicidal content’ under the ‘harmful behaviour’ option. The person who has posted it receives an email offering a direct link to an instant confidential chat or the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. „We have effective treatments to help suicidal individuals regain hope and a desire to live,“ said US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.
One can also report suicidal behaviour by going to the site’s help centre, search for suicide reporting forms or use reporting links around the site. „Worried friends who reported the behaviour will also receive a message to say it is being addressed“, said Wolens.
Facebook itself is not going to search the content for suicidal content – though it is certainly one of the major platforms in this respect. There have been several tragic incidents before, where individuals have announced their plans on their profile page. Just last month, a man in Pittsburgh, California posted a suicide note on Facebook before he killed his wife, his in-laws and then himself.
Around 12 people in 100,000 kill themselves in the United States each year compared to almost 14 in Europe. When a comparable service will hit the continent – which would have to be run on a national basis using the respective languages – is, so far, unknown.
posted on saferinternet.org
