UK Regulator Fines Suicide Forum £950,000 for Failing to Block Users

Britain's media regulator Ofcom fined a pro-suicide online forum £950,000 for failing to block UK users, in violation of the Online Safety Act.

The site has been linked to at least 50 deaths. Ofcom said the forum did not comply with requirements to protect people in the UK from illegal content.

Suzanne Cater, Ofcom's director of enforcement, said the forum made some attempts to block UK users. But she added those efforts were "not good enough and the changes they've made were not consistently applied or effective to reduce the risk of harm".

The Molly Rose Foundation criticized Ofcom for taking too long to act. "It is appalling that it has been left to bereaved families and campaign groups to press Ofcom into action," the group said.

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the online safety charity, said his group submitted detailed evidence showing vulnerable young people remained at risk while Ofcom's investigation dragged on. "Further lives were lost during this period".

An Ofcom spokesperson told BBC News the regulator understood the urgency and anger from those affected. "It is vital that we ensure our enforcement action is thorough, and this can take time, as is the case for any enforcement agency".

It is a criminal offense in the UK to intentionally encourage or assist suicide. The Online Safety Act requires chatroom providers to mitigate risks of UK users seeing such content.

Ofcom said the site remained accessible in the UK without a VPN, a common way to bypass blocks. The regulator spoke to people with personal knowledge of the forum and thanked them for their help.

The investigation ran from March 2025 to April 2026. It was the first of its kind under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom engaged extensively with the forum provider throughout.

BBC News investigations found young people on the site were encouraged and given instructions on how to kill themselves. The BBC and Ofcom did not name the website.

Vlad Nikolin-Caisley, 17, and Aimee Walton, 21, both from Southampton, died after using the pro-suicide chat room. Their families called on Ofcom to act.

After the fine, Aimee's sister Adele Zeynep Walton said families like hers had been "agonisingly waiting for action against the website that took our loved ones". In a statement for Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms, she added: "We feel let down by the process and Ofcom's slow response to this threat to life".

Walton said a fine was not enough. She called for "criminal sanctions against the sinister actors who actively groom, encourage and instruct British people to take their lives".

An Ofcom spokesperson said the provider had "failed - and continues to fail - to comply with its duties". The investigation was the first launched under the Online Safety Act right after it took effect.

The forum tried to block UK users, but in November 2025 BBC News reported a "mirror" site under a new name. Ofcom acted quickly after the Samaritans charity alerted it, and blocked the new site.

Ofcom said the £950,000 fine reflects the serious and deliberate nature of the violations and the risk of fatal harm from the content. It considered the provider's attempts to block UK users.

Still, the provider failed to assess and mitigate risks of UK people encountering illegal content. The provider has 10 working days to comply. Ofcom plans to seek a court order requiring internet service providers to block the site.