US-based internet suicide forum implicated in 160 UK deaths fined £950,000

Ofcom attempts to block UK access to site cited in multiple coroners’ reports as it levies fine under Online Safety Act A nihilistic internet suicide forum implicated in over 160 UK deaths has been fined £950,000 by the online regulator in its latest attempt to shut it down. Ofcom said the US-based website remained accessible in the UK despite over a year of warnings. Online safety campaigners have accused the regulator of taking an “interminable” amount of time to act. The Samaritans, mental health campaigners and the Molly Rose Foundation have repeatedly raised concerns about the site, which has remained accessible despite it being cited in multiple coroners’ reports on the deaths of UK citizens. The Molly Rose Foundation was set up in the memory of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who took her own life after descending into a vortex of negative online content, including about suicide. Its chief executive, Andy Burrows, welcomed the fine and a separate move that could block UK internet access to the site, but said it was “appalling that it has been left to bereaved families and campaign groups to press Ofcom into action”. Ofcom has been trying to get the site to obey Bri