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Posts with tag suicide

Suicide Websites Made Illegal in U.K.

by Tim Stevens, posted Sep 18th 2008 at 2:12PM

Suicide Websites Made Illegal in U.K.
In the wake of a still-growing suicide-pact crisis in the U.K., largely fueled by Web sites that either heap praise on those who've killed themselves or give encouragement for those who are thinking about it, the British government has expanded a 1961 suicide promotion law, explicitly banning the promotion of suicide on Web sites.

The 47-year-old Suicide Act already covered suicide-related sites, but as of now, none had actually been prosecuted or shut down because of it. The change in language makes it blatantly clear that these sites are indeed illegal, but as we've seen before, shutting down illegal sites in just one nation is a tricky thing. Earlier this year, Wikileaks was ruled illegal in a California court, which took steps to block it. However, multiple other versions popped up around the world offering access to exactly the same information through different URLs. Two weeks later, the court relented and up went the main site again.

Will the British government find more success than ours did? That remains to be seen. [From: BBC News]
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Suicide Craze Linked to Social Networking Site

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 23rd 2008 at 10:09AM

Welsh Suicides Blamed on Social Networking SiteIt's a question that we've all been asked: "If your friends all jumped off of a bridge, would you?" It's meant to be rhetorical, but the question is getting an answer that few would expect from a group of friends in South Wales in the U.K. Seven teenagers in Brigend, Wales have killed themselves in a string of suicides, with two more hospitalized after attempting to do the same. According to a string of articles in the U.K., the teenagers were seemingly trying to earn themselves a memorial page on social networking site Bebo.

Bebo, which stands for "Blog Early Blog Often," is a social networking site popular in Europe, thanks to its availability in numerous languages. On the site, the grieving friends of Welsh teenager David Crole created a memorial page after his suicide in January of 2007. David was the first to hang himself, and his death seems to have started the trend. Six of his friends then hanged themselves over the following year, with 17-year-old Natasha Randall being the most recent.

It's believed that the friends were all trying to gain the same notoriety David received, each with their own memorial pages, a thought that is hugely tragic and difficult to comprehend.

From NEWS.com.au and Brand Republic

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Dead Wrestler's Final Text Messages

by Tom Conlon, posted Jun 28th 2007 at 10:59AM

Dead Wrestler's Final Text MessagesWWE has released text messages sent to employees by wrestler Chris Benoit, who last weekend killed his wife and son, and then himself. The text messages themselves are rather benign, but what's chilling is that they appear to have been sent after Benoit murdered his family.

Police believe Benoit killed his family on Friday night (June 22) or early Saturday morning, but waited around until Monday morning to hang himself on his weight machine. According to WWE's own timeline, Benoit contacted WWE employees on Saturday the 23rd to inform them that his wife and child were ill and that he'd have to miss a scheduled appearance. According to the police timeline, Benoit's wife and son were, in fact, already dead at this time.

While attempting to rebook Benoit for a Sunday appearance, WWE employees received the following text messages from the wrestler between 3:51 and 3:58 a.m. Sunday morning:

3:53 a.m. "My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215'"

3:53 a.m. "The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open"

3:54 a.m. "My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215''

3:54 a.m. "My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215'"

3:54 a.m. "My address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215'"

At 12:30 p.m. the next day WWE had been unable to make contact with Benoit , which prompted the wrestling organization to contacted local authorities. At 4:00 p.m., WWE was notified that the Benoit home was a crime scene.

From MiamiHerald.com
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