Samaritans join battle on online suicide content

FACEBOOK and Instagram have been told to work with the Samaritans to help remove suicide content online using the latest artificial intelligence, the Health Secretary has announced.

Matt Hancock has summoned social media companies to a summit today where they will be asked to sign up to a “strategic partnership” to improve their systems for identifying and removing harmful material.

Using the latest technology, the internet giants will be expected to better scan for content such as self-harm guides and material that encourages eating disorders. They will also be asked to take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-vaxxers due to concerns that online conspiracies surrounding vaccination against diseases such as measles is putting children at risk.

It is hoped that working with the Samaritans will yield similar results to those seen on the rail network, where suicides have fallen significantly since the launch of a suicide prevention programme in 2010.

A joint ministerial letter by Mr Hancock, Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary, and Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, also urges the companies to form clear definitions of what constitutes harmful content.

It comes three weeks after the Government announced plans for Britain to have the toughest internet laws in the world, following the Telegraph’s campaign for a statutory duty of care.

The proposals will lead to the creation of an independent regulator, equipped with powers to impose fines on firms, prosecute named directors held liable for what happens online, ban errant platforms from internet searches and even block their access to UK users.

However, there remains widespread frustration that while many social media companies have pledged to improve their systems, there are still too many cases in which content has not been picked up or has been removed too slowly.

Whilst welcoming the progress so far, the ministers warn that the new regulator responsible for overseeing an online duty of care will expect social media companies to act faster to remove illegal and harmful content.

Setting out a five-point plan for cooperation, they say they expect to see social media companies drawing experts together, establishing best-practice standards and drawing on the experiences of their users to better inform their approach. They also make clear that the companies will be expected to fund the partnership.

The letter was sent to Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, the Internet Association, Tech UK, Wikipedia and Instagram.