Bereaved families are calling for a public inquiry into what they say are \u00ab\u00a0repeated failures\u00a0\u00bb by the UK government to protect vulnerable people from a website promoting suicide.<\/p>\n
A report by the Molly Rose Foundation says departments were warned 65 times about the online forum, which BBC News is not naming, and others like it but did not act.<\/p>\n
The suicide prevention charity says at least 133 people have died in the UK as a result of a toxic chemical promoted by the site and similar forums.<\/p>\n
The government has not said whether it will consider an inquiry but said sites must prevent users from accessing illegal suicide and self-harm content or face \u00ab\u00a0robust enforcement, including substantial fines\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Families and survivors have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him for an inquiry to look into why warnings from coroners and campaigners have been ignored.<\/p>\n
David Parfett, whose son Tom took his own life in 2021, told the BBC successive governments had offered sympathy but no accountability.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The people who host the suicide platforms to spread their cult-like messages that suicide is normal – and earn money from selling death – continue to be several steps ahead of government ministers and law enforcement bodies,\u00a0\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I can think of no better memorial for my son than knowing people like him are protected from harm while they recover their mental health.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
David and six other families are being represented by the law firm Leigh Day who have also written a letter to the prime minister highlighting their concerns about the main suicide forum.<\/p>\n
The letter says victims were groomed online, and tended to be in their early 20s, with the youngest known victim being 13.<\/p>\n
It argues a public inquiry is needed because coroners’ courts cannot institute the changes needed to protect vulnerable people.<\/p>\n
According to the report, coroners raised concerns and sent repeated warnings to the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Department of Health and Social Care on dozens of occasions since 2019, when the forum that has been criticised by the families first emerged.<\/p>\n
The report highlighted four main findings:<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson said that the substance in question \u00ab\u00a0is closely monitored and is reportable under the Poisons Act\u00a0\u00bb meaning retailers should tell the authorities if they suspect it is being bought to cause harm.<\/p>\n
But campaigners say the government’s response has been fragmented and slow, with officials \u00ab\u00a0passing the parcel\u00a0\u00bb rather than taking co-ordinated action.<\/p>\n
Adele Zeynep Walton, whose sister Aimee died in 2022, said families like hers had been \u00ab\u00a0ignored and dismissed\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0She was creative, a very talented artist, gifted musician,\u00a0\u00bb she told BBC News.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Aimee was hardworking and achieved great GCSE results, however she was shy and quiet and struggled to make friends.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Every time I learn of a new life lost to the website that killed my sister three years ago, I’m infuriated that another family has had to go through this preventable tragedy.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
The demand for an inquiry follows concerns raised by the BBC in 2023, when an investigation revealed sites offering instructions and encouragement for suicide and evading regulations.<\/p>\n
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said the state’s failure to act had \u00ab\u00a0cost countless lives\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
He also accused Ofcom of being \u00ab\u00a0inexplicably slow\u00a0\u00bb to restrict UK access to the main website the Foundation has raised concerns about.<\/p>\n
Under the Online Safety Act, which became law in October 2023, Ofcom got the power in March 2025 to take action against sites hosting illegal content, which includes assisting suicide. If sites fail to show they have systems in place to remove illegal material, Ofcom can block them or impose fines of up to \u00a318m.<\/p>\n
UK users are currently unable to access the forum, which is based in the US. A message on the forum’s homepage says it was not blocked to people in the UK as a result of government action but instead because of a \u00ab\u00a0proactive\u00a0\u00bb decision to \u00ab\u00a0protect the platform and its users\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We operate under the protection of the First Amendment. However, UK authorities have signalled intentions to enforce their domestic laws on foreign platforms, potentially leading to criminal liability or service disruption,\u00a0\u00bb the message reads.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Ofcom said: \u00ab\u00a0In response to our enforcement action, the online suicide forum put in place a geo-block to restrict access by people with UK IP addresses.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Services that choose to block access by people in the UK must not encourage or promote ways to avoid these restrictions.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It added the forum remained on its watchlist and a previously-launched investigation into it remained open while it checked the block was being maintained.<\/p>\n
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Bereaved families are calling for a public inquiry into what they say are \u00ab\u00a0repeated failures\u00a0\u00bb by the UK government to protect vulnerable people from a website promoting suicide. A report by the Molly Rose Foundation says departments were warned 65 times about the online forum, which BBC News is not naming, and others like it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}