MASHPEE MAN’S LIVE SUICIDE
Online titan has no answer for dark events
A man in Mashpee committed suicide on Facebook Live yesterday morning, authorities say, in a horrific broadcast that sparked calls to police and shows how the social media giant continues to grapple with the dark side of real-time video posts.
Authorities were notified at 6:40 a.m. about the chilling live post, Cape and Island District Attorney Michael O’Keefe told the Herald.
O’Keefe would not disclose the man’s name, citing his office’s policy on keeping alleged suicide victims anonymous. He also declined to indicate how the suicide occurred or what may have prompted the man to show it on Facebook Live.
“People do ridiculous and dangerous and, frankly, stupid things and post them online,” said O’Keefe, when asked to comment on shocking Facebook footage. “The sooner that people stop doing that, we will all be a lot better off.”
O’Keefe added the victim was “obviously a disturbed individual, and all of the issues will be fleshed out by police as they investigate the matter.”
Facebook, which recently created a number of online tools for people to report similar abuses of the live portal, reached out to authorities regarding the Mashpee case. Users also alerted cops to the post.
“We’re very saddened by the news of this tragedy. We care about the safety of our community and want to provide assistance for people in distress,” said Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Facebook, in an email.
“In instances where someone posts about selfinjury or suicide,” Saul said, “we want to be sure that friends and family members can provide support and help.”
She pointed to tools on Facebook that allow users to reach out to “a friend who may be struggling” and also “resources for a person who may be expressing suicidal thoughts.”
The company in March announced suicide prevention tools for Facebook Live. For example, a person sharing a live video who may have personal problems will see options on their screen asking if they want to reach out to a friend, contact a help line or get tips on how to cope, according to a Facebook statement at the time.
In May, Facebook also vowed to add 3,000 more people to review videos after a series of live posts shocked users — including a father livestreaming the killing of his daughter.
While the new approaches are a positive move for Facebook, the company is still struggling to keep up with the dark side of the social media universe, according to one expert.
“They are moving their platform at a faster speed than safety concerns, or safety precautions, can deal with,” said Dr. John Torous, co-director of the digital psychiatry program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
“This may be a case where technology is outstripping the way we know how to keep people safe and how to respond,” Torous said. “It’s really happening so quickly.”
Facebook is also looking into using artificial intelligence to use “pattern recognition in posts” that had previously been reported for suicidal language, according to a company post discussing the initiative.
Torous said the psychiatric community has been left in the dark about how it would work.
“How artificial intelligence will work is a little bit nebulous,” he said. “It has tremendous potential, but it isn’t very clear what it actually means to use it. Does it work? How does it work? What is the plan on rolling it out?”