Suicide website laws to be rewritten

 

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Posted on 18 Sep 2008 at 12:00

The UK government is to re-write the laws on suicide websites to make it clear that they are illegal. The Ministry of Justice has vowed to clamp down on websites that encourage teenagers to commit suicide or offer tips on suicide techniques.

Such websites have been implicated in dozens of suicides committed by teenagers in recent years, and while it is already illegal under the 1961 Suicide Act to promote suicide, no website operator has yet been prosecuted for promoting the act.

The Ministry of Justice will not only redefine the laws to make it clear that the they apply to online material, but also vowed to help ISPs police the websites that they host.

"There is no magic solution to protecting vulnerable people online," said Justice Minister Maria Eagle.

"Updating the language of the Suicide Act, however, should help to reassure people that the internet is not a lawless environment and that we can meet the challenges of the digital world.

She said it is important for the law to be expressed in terms that everyone can understand, especially given the wide public interest and concern on topics such as suicide.
"We continue to work with the internet industry to look at long-term ways to keep people safe and without jeopardising our freedom of speech," she added.

UK charity Papyrus, which is focused on the prevention of young suicide, welcomed the Ministry's proposal, hailing it a "big step forward", but warned that rephrasing the law alone would not be enough to protect vulnerable teens online.

"It is our view that much of the content of websites and chatrooms which promote suicide is illegal under British law - but there have been no successful prosecutions in this country and Internet Service Providers have been reluctant to take down such sites," the charity said in a statement.

"Unfortunately it would appear that the law itself is not going to be updated to protect the vulnerable from those who would use the internet to directly promote suicide."

A recent study found that a user surfing online for information on suicide is likely to come across more websites promoting suicide than those offering help.

Author: Theo Salvador