Facebook Announces New Tools for Preventing Suicide on Livestreams

[straycat19]

Facebook is in the process of implementing new suicide prevention tools, including streamlined reporting on its Facebook Live application, in the wake of two suicides livestreamed from the platform earlier this year, according to the Associated Press.

 

One new tool released Wednesday allows viewers of a livestream to report if the broadcast is suicidal in nature and prompt Facebook to intervene by reaching out to emergency services, the AP reports. It will also provide the user broadcasting with onscreen resources such as the option to talk to a friend or contact a helpline.

 

Users who report a suicidal broadcast will receive resources for helping the person in crisis until further help arrives, according to Facebook’s announcement yesterday. As the announcement points out, Facebook has provided users with suicide prevention resources for over a decade and worked with organizations including the National Suicide Prevention

 

Lifeline and Crisis Text Line to better understand how to support users in crisis. However, this new reporting tool expands the options for users to both report suicidal content and receive crisis support specifically through the Facebook Live application. 

 

The suicide of 14-year-old Nakia Venant, which was streamed live on Facebook from her Florida foster home on Jan. 22, was one of at least three incidents of livestreamed suicide this year, according to the AP. One day after Venant’s suicide, 33-year-old Frederick Jay Bowdy used Facebook Live to broadcast his suicide from his car in North Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times reported. As previously reported by Forensic Magazine, viewers of each broadcast attempted to send help, but emergency services could not arrive in time to prevent the suicides.

 

Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg briefly mentioned livestreamed suicides in a letter in mid-February, which included a section on building a safe community and preventing self-harm as well as providing support during any kind of crisis.

 

“There have been terribly tragic events—like suicides, some live streamed—that perhaps could have been prevented if someone had realized what was happening and reported them sooner,” the letter states. “These stories show we must find a way to do more.”

 

In addition to the new reporting tools, Facebook is also beginning a video campaign, according to yesterday's announcement, that will highlight suicide prevention awareness and include a collaboration with its partners in mental health and crisis support.

 

Yesterday, Facebook and Crisis Text Line also announced they will be partnering to provide users with 24/7 crisis support that will allow a user who is considering self-harm or suicide to reach a trained crisis counselor directly through Facebook Messenger, according to a statement from Crisis Text Line.

 

Currently in testing is a way for Facebook to use artificial intelligence to spot suicidal posts and take emergency action if necessary, according to Facebook’s announcement. This process, called pattern recognition, would identify concerning posts and either highlight the option for viewers to report them, or automatically flag them for review by members of Facebook’s Community Operations team.

 

In his Feb. 16 statement, Zuckerberg said the technology was “very early in development,” but that it could be used both to aid in suicide prevention and help spot terrorist propaganda, making the website’s community safer overall.

 

“One of our greatest opportunities to keep people safe is building artificial intelligence to understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community,” Zuckerberg stated.
 

Source