Facebook’s Suicide Prevention Tools Become Available Worldwide

With yet another update to its platform, Facebook has now made its suicide prevention available worldwide. Previously, the tools that allow users to report posts from friends who could be at risk for self-harm or suicide were available only for a limited number of English-language users.

Other users could also flag suicide-related posts by only through a form; thanks to the update, the new resources that make the process less complicated and much quicker is available to all.

Facebook announced that its suicide prevention tools will be available to all users, in all languages supported by the social network.

According to Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, and researcher Jennifer Guadagno, the tools were “developed in collaboration with mental health organizations and with input from people who have personal experience with self-injury and suicide.”

Last year, Facebook made the tools available to a limited number of users in the United States with the help of Lifeline, Forefront, and Save.org. The tech giant said it plans to partner with more mental health organizations and suicide prevention in various countries.

As the update rolls out, users everywhere will be able to express their concern for a friend who might deal with self-harm or suicidal thoughts by flagging their posts from a drop-down menu.

Facebook offers several options, starting with a list of resources featuring numbers for suicide prevention organizations that can be shared anonymously. You can also choose to send a message of support (Facebook suggests wording).

According to the Help Center, you can also ask for Facebook’s global community operations team to review the post in question. If they find reason for concern, they may then “reach out to this person with information that might be helpful to them.”

However, if users believe their friends are at immediate risk of hurting themselves, Facebooks urges them to contact the police. While this can be a useful method of raising awareness of an important issue, Facebook’s suicide prevention tools could help users who want to take their own lives.

Several reports show the rates of suicide around the world are increasing, which means it has become a public health crisis in many countries. In the U.S. alone, suicide rates have reached a three-decade record, particularly among women aged 45 to 64.
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Karen Jackson

Karen Jackson has always been passionate about technology. All the way through high-school she immersed herself in computers and web-design. Her ambitious nature helped her become a pro in Adobe Photoshop only by watching online videos and working with the program herself. This is also the program that she mostly uses in the creation of websites at her work-place. Technological innovation and gadgets that push the boundaries of what we are comfortable with have always fascinated her, so expect to see some weird gadget reviews coming from her.