Broadband providers block suicide website linked to 50 deaths

Leading UK broadband providers have told the BBC they have blocked access to a website promoting suicide.

Sky Broadband, which has 5.7 million users, says the forum will automatically be barred if home users are using its standard filters.

Virgin Media said it would be automatically barred on its mobile and broadband services, while TalkTalk and BT said it could also now be blocked.

It follows a BBC investigation linking the forum to more than 50 UK deaths.

Bereaved relatives had written to internet service providers in the UK requesting they block the site.

Sky Broadband - the second biggest internet service provider (ISP) in the country - has now confirmed the forum had been added to a list of websites that are blocked by its Sky Broadband Shield safety filter, which is automatically activated on home routers.

The company said it had moved as quickly as possible and blocked the online forum with "immediate effect".

TalkTalk - which has about four millions users - told the BBC the site would now be blocked for any customer with its HomeSafe safety filter activated. It said it was unable to automatically block the site.

BT told the BBC the site is automatically barred on their mobile networks and is also blocked on home broadband, if users turn on parental controls.

Virgin Media said its web filters are switched on by default and the site is now blocked.

Following the publication of the BBC investigation, administrators of the controversial website have posted a message on its front page saying they are unconcerned by threats from the UK digital safety regulator Ofcom to block their forum. The post also calls on users in the UK to lobby MPs against the newly passed Online Safety Act.

David Parfett's son Tom, 22, ended his life in 2021, after finding instructions on the forum.

Responding to Sky Broadband's decision, Mr Parfett said: "It made me cry. It's pure relief, mixed with anger that Tom may still be here if [the forum] had been regulated two years ago. My sole aim has been to stop other people being influenced to take their own life."

Joe Nihill, 23, died in 2020 and left a note asking his family to get the forum shut down.

His mother Catherine Adenekan and sister-in-law Melanie Saville said other internet service providers should follow Sky Broadband's example.

"It's really important to us both, as it means access is becoming limited to prevent others… finding it - which is a step in the right direction."

The BBC identified Lamarcus Small as one the of the creators of the site and tracked him down to his home in Huntsville, Alabama, in the US. He refused to answer any questions, but an account associated with Mr Small on the controversial platform "Kiwi Farms" has since posted about the BBC's findings.

"The UK wants to block the site and pretend that this is going to help things, when it won't," the post says, continuing: "Chasing me down to the ends of the earth to harass me isn't going to solve the mental health crisis, nor would shutting the site down."

Responding to the post, Mr Parfett added: "These people encourage others to die and celebrate death, they have no place in a civilised society."

The government's controversial Online Safety Bill, which aims to make the internet safer, became law last week - giving the regulator, Ofcom, further jurisdiction.

In a statement Ofcom told BBC News: "If services don't comply, we'll have a broad range of enforcement powers at our disposal to ensure they're held accountable".

In a further development, digital music streaming service Spotify has moved to disable what is called a "social login" button on the forum.

A "social login" allows users of an app to use their existing username and password to register or log on to a third party website, using a simple click button.

BBC News discovered the Spotify "social login" button on the pro-suicide forum and approached the music app for comment.

Spotify says the feature was enabled by a third party developer, without the company's knowledge, violating their terms of agreement. It said: "Once we were alerted to this matter, we removed access for the site in question immediately and the button no longer works."

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