Google denies breaching law by promoting suicide forum linked to 164 UK deaths
Google has denied violating the Online Safety Act by promoting a “nihilistic” suicide forum connected to 164 deaths in the UK, despite the forum being banned under British law.
The UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom, fined the forum’s US-based operator £950,000 because the site, which "presents a material risk of significant harm," remains accessible in the UK, even though British laws criminalise encouraging or assisting suicide.
Nevertheless, a link to the website continues to appear in Google’s search results, allowing users with basic software to bypass the block and access extensive advice on suicide methods.
Google’s promotion of the site, which has not named, was highlighted by the Molly Rose Foundation, an online safety campaign. Its chief executive, Andy Burrows, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
“If you search for it by name it will still come up in search results – a clear-cut breach of the act, but on that matter Ofcom has so far declined to take action.”
The site listed by Google was the second entry beneath a link to Samaritans. The associated URL links to a page where the forum’s operators state that access has been "voluntarily restricted to users in the United Kingdom due to legal risks associated with the UK Online Safety Act 2023."
However, the page includes the website’s address, which can then be used to access the full site using VPN software that simulates a computer based in a different country.
When set to simulate internet access from the US, Germany, and France, the full forum was easily accessible, including detailed advice on the efficacy of various suicide methods.
The Molly Rose Foundation, established in memory of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who died after viewing negative online content, including about suicide, cited a provision stating that search services must "take or use proportionate measures relating to the design or operation of the service to effectively mitigate and manage the risks of harm to individuals."
Google denied breaching the law. It stated that Ofcom regulations allow search engines to respond to “navigational” queries and that its results prioritise user safety by including a prominent help box with support resources, such as Samaritans, alongside contextual news coverage. Google added that it aims to balance robust safety protections with the principle of ensuring information access and would implement any formal court orders to restrict access to specific sites.
The foundation, along with the campaign group Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms, have raised concerns about risks of further deaths from the forum “and a substance it promotes, glorifies and instructs for use as a suicide method.”
Adele Zeynep Walton, whose sister Aimee Walton took her life after accessing the site, said:
“Families like mine have been agonisingly waiting for action against the website that took our loved ones and at least 164 UK lives. While we’ve waited further lives have been lost and we’ve had to fight every step.”
Ofcom has been urging the site to comply with British laws criminalising intentionally encouraging or assisting suicide since last spring.
The Online Safety Act also allows Ofcom to seek a court order requiring internet service providers to block UK access to the site. The regulator is preparing an application to have the site’s connections effectively cut if its concerns relating to the breach are not addressed.
An Ofcom spokesperson said:
“Under the act, search engines must minimise the risk of people in the UK from encountering illegal content, including content in search results, or content within one click of a search result.
“The act is clear that the illegal content duties on search engines do not apply to search results that do not contain illegal content, or if the landing page of a site reached via a search result also does not contain illegal content, such as a webpage explaining that UK users are geoblocked from accessing.”
In the UK and Ireland, support can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat online. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at the International Association for Suicide Prevention website.
