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Facebook Launches Suicide Prevention Tool to Help People in Britain
Kanika Gupta
Update Date: Mar 01, 2016 02:03 PM EST
Facebook has come up with yet another innovative way to help people who might be at risk of self-harm.
The suicide prevention tool on the website has already been launched in certain parts of the world that is built to report friends who they think might be at risk of hurting themselves. Facebook will help to offer resources and support for people and also their friends and family. The website urges people to ask for emergency service if they see open threats. However, this tool is geared at helping people who post disturbing content.
If you are worried about a friend, you can use the tool to flag that person. This message will be taken in by the system that is developed in collaboration with Samaritans. This will help the teams to think of ways to intervene and proceed. If that is the case, user will be prompted by a message when they login next time saying "a friend thinks you might be going through something difficult and asked us to look at your recent post", says Times of India
The person who seeks help may be offered to speak to Samaritans or speak to a friend about their problem. Safety policy manager pf Facebook says that the system has been built to help incite people to connect with other people.
"People use Facebook to connect with friends and family, and that's why we're evolving the support, resources and advice available to people who are in distress and their concerned friends and family members," said Julie de Bailliencourt.
The Facebook reports are sorted and then those reports where someone might be at risk will be given higher priority.
"If someone is reported to us, as at risk of suicide, Facebook's safety team will look at their account. If they consider that a person is at risk of immediate harm then we may, in very rare cases, alert local police," Samaritans wrote on its website, as reported by Independent
TagsFacebook, Suicide, helpline, suicide rates, Self-harm, Self Esteem
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