Facebook Takes Safety Measures Against Online Suicide Challenges

Facebook looks to provide safety measures to prevent further cases of death via Blue Whale Challenge.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: iStock)

The blue whale suicide game is believed to be a social media group which is encouraging people to kill themselves. So far about 130 people are dead across Russia, mostly youngsters. Facebook is now working with suicide prevention partners to eliminate these manipulative games from their network.

The Blue Whale challenge is said to psychologically provoke players to indulge in daring, self-destructive tasks for 50 days before finally taking the "winning" step of killing themselves.

Facebook said that it shall remove all the links and pages that promotes and encourages any kind of self-harm or self-injury.

Starting on World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, Facebook said it would also connect people in India with information about supportive groups and suicide prevention tools in News Feed and their safety centre.

With these resources, people can access tools to resolve conflict online, help a friend who is expressing suicidal thoughts, or get resources if they are going through a difficult time.

We care deeply about the safety and millions of people in India who use Facebook to connect with the people who matter to them, and recognise there’s an opportunity with these tools and resources to connect someone who is struggling with a person they already have a relationship with.

Ankhi Das, Director of Public Policy for Facebook in India, South and Central Asia

Facebook is also offering guidance to parents, teenagers and teachers in their safety centre about online safety. People can also reach out to Facebook when they see something that makes them concerned about a friend's well-being.

(With IANS inputs)

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