"According to a report by the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), a suicide prevention charity targeted to people under the age of 25, government departments were warned a total of 65 times about the online forum. It added that, so far, the forum has been linked to the deaths of at least 133 people in the UK over the past five years, after they obtained toxic chemicals promoted by the site."
"Under the Online Safety Act - which became law in October 2023 but only went into full effect on 25 July 2025 - Ofcom was able from March 2025 to take action against sites hosting illegal content, which includes content promoting suicide. If sites fail to show they have systems in place to remove illegal material, Ofcom can block them or impose fines of up to £18m."
Bereaved families are calling for a public inquiry into repeated failures by the government and the online harms regulator Ofcom to address a nihilistic suicide forum. The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) reports that government departments were warned 65 times about the forum. The forum has been linked to at least 133 UK deaths over five years after users obtained toxic chemicals promoted by the site. Forum owners voluntarily blocked UK IP addresses following an Ofcom investigation launched in April 2025, but the MRF says the regulator is failing to prevent the ongoing threat. The Online Safety Act gave Ofcom powers from March 2025 to act against sites hosting illegal content, including promotion of suicide, with potential fines up to £18m; Ofcom reports initial circumvention instructions were removed and monitoring is ongoing.
Read at ComputerWeekly.com
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