Facebook rolls out suicide prevention support tool

June 14: With more than 1.65 billion members worldwide posting regularly about their behaviour, Facebook is planning to take a more direct role in stopping suicide.

On Tuesday, in the biggest step by a major technology company to incorporate suicide prevention tools into its platform, the social network introduced mechanisms and processes to make it easier for people to help friends who post messages about suicide or self-har m.

With the new features, people can flag friends’ posts that they deem suicidal; the posts will be reviewed by a team at the social network that will then provide language to communicate with the person who is at risk, as well as information on suicide prevention.

The timing coincides with a surge in suicide rates in the US to a 30-year high. The increase has been particularly steep among women and middle-aged Americans, reflecting widespread desperation.

Last year, President Obama declared a World Suicide Prevention Day in September, calling on people to recognize mental health issues early and to reach out to support one another.

Facebook has long thrust itself into major societal debates because of its vast reach and the enormous diversity of human behavior it sees. About 72% of Americans — and 77% of American women — use Facebook, according to a 2015 study by Pew Research.

Yet Facebook is walking a tightrope, trying to explore its role as an arbiter of social change without upsetting the hundreds of millions of people who regularly use its services. Some of the suicide prevention tools may trouble groups that have concerns about digital privacy. Many of those groups have already become wary of what they see as Facebook’s overreach in people’s personal lives.

Facebook has long thrust itself into major societal debates because of its vast reach and the enormous diversity of human behaviour it sees