House Commerce Leaders Seek Briefings on Suicide Site
House Commerce Committee members requested briefings Monday on how a website is “able to continue encouraging suicide.” They cited New York Times reporting about a site, which the lawmakers didn’t identify, “that may have played a role in the deaths…
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of 45 individuals by suicide.” Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., joined subcommittee leaders from both parties in requesting briefings from search engines, web hosting companies, content delivery networks and social media platforms, plus the Department of Health and Human Services. “We are deeply concerned by recent reporting on a website that provides advice on methods of suicide and facilitates discussions encouraging people to take their lives," they wrote. The committee is “committed to taking further action to address the role of online content in the nation’s mental health emergency."