Instances of online suicide, the law and potential solutions

Abstract

To understand the social and legal issues posed by suicide-related communications over the Internet (messages of threatened suicide and advocated suicide), this article examines a selection of cases involving different types of online baiting and harassment that illustrate different legal and technological issues. The anonymity afforded by computer-mediated communication allows bullies to harass vulnerable individuals and leak (disclose) their personal information. Computer mediation of communication potentially diffuses responsibility; imposes a temporal asynchrony between signified intent and audience response; and reduces the empathy that might motivate observers or witnesses to intervene and render assistance, factors that make online baiting a serious social, legal and technological problem. Potential actions (both legal and technological) for addressing this problem are outlined.

Keywords:

• suicide
• Internet
• webcam
• legal
• intervention

Ethical standards

Declaration of conflicts of interest

James G. Phillip has declared no conflicts of interest.

Kate Diesfeld has declared no conflicts of interest.

Leon Mann has declared no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.