
Kirkcaldy MP demands pro-suicide forum is torn down
Online safety watchdog Ofcom needs to 'crack on' and remove a harmful forum which promotes suicide to children and adults, Kirkcaldy MP Melanie Ward says.
The regulator announced earlier in April that it was investigating the website which has been linked to as many as 100 deaths in the UK.
Ms Ward says the regulator should 'get on with it' and use its new powers under the Online Safety Act to remove the pro-suicide forum quickly.
Material viewed on the website – which The Courier is choosing not to name – includes graphic and disturbing content.
The site has tens of thousands of members who discuss methods of suicide and instructions on how to purchase and use lethal chemicals.
Among the posters are users who say they are children under 16.
Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy MP Ms Ward used a House of Commons debate to call on the regulator to take more urgent action.
Ms Ward said: 'I wrote to Ofcom about a platform that is actively promoting suicidal ideation and has been linked to nearly 100 deaths, including among young people.
'Ofcom responded to say they are opening an investigation – but we need action now. Lives are at stake.
'These sites are preying on vulnerable people and providing detailed, dangerous guidance on how to end their lives and promoting suicidal ideation.
'We cannot allow this to continue. I will keep pushing Ofcom to use the powers parliament has given them – not tomorrow, but today – to remove this content and protect our young people.'
Health minister Stephen Kinnock agreed with Ms Ward, saying it was 'time to crack on and deal with this issue'.
'It is deeply troubling,' he added.
Ofcom says its investigation is underway and must be completed before enforcement action is taken. Where it identifies compliance failures, it can require platforms to take specific measures.
Among its powers are potential fines of up to £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue.
Ofcom can also seek a court order requiring providers and advertisers withdraw services or force internet providers to block access in the UK.
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org ,or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Courier
10 hours ago
- The Courier
EXCLUSIVE: NHS Tayside records more than 1,200 data breaches in five years
NHS Tayside logged more than 1,200 data breaches in five years as the health board comes under fire again for poor handling of patient records, The Courier can reveal. The full number follows a series of high profile leaks which angered patients and staff. Former patient Alan Ogilvie, who obtained the new figures through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, said it is 'one symptom of a deeper failure'. He said: 'The lack of accountability utterly erodes any shred of trust patients could have. 'How can patients ever trust NHS Tayside with their most sensitive information?' Mr Ogilvie was among 132 victims of disgraced ex-Dundee doctor Sam Eljamel who received an apology in January after their personal details were leaked. Last year, The Courier detailed seven separate data breaches which spanned a two-year period. In August 2023, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing sensitive information about NHS Tayside staff was shared in error with another team. Just weeks later paperwork for hundreds of patients were missing. Perthshire woman Amanda Flood has now been victim to three data breaches. On two occasions a health board employee snooped on her personal files, while last October she received a letter saying her details had mistakenly been sent to a patient. In February 2024, NHS workers lost documents with personal details about primary-one pupils in Broughty Ferry. And in December last year Tayside chiefs launched an internal review after the data of 125 patients was released by mistake. The new details show 381 errors were flagged internally in 2023-24, by far the highest total across an eight-year period. There were 272 breaches in 2022-23, after 246 were logged in 2021-22. Between 2019 and 2024, 33 of these were deemed serious enough to be sent on to Scotland's Information Commissioner. The figures also show 13% of staff currently working at the heart board are yet to complete mandatory training for handling data. Meanwhile, NHS Tayside said 14,165 staff were up to date with data courses as of March this year – which leaves 1,800 staff lagging behind. In June 2019, 69% of staff were compliant with the compulsory data training. NHS Tayside notes new data protection laws – GDPR – came into force in May 2018, and says this 'will have impacted on the reporting and compliance figures'. Mr Ogilvie's Freedom of Information request found the total number of data breaches since 2016. The Eljamel patient previously won a complaint against NHS Tayside after waiting more than four months when he asked for the health board to hand over his personal data. 'It's frankly astonishing that a former patient like myself has had to make formal complaints and conduct a detailed FOI investigation,' he said. 'This is a stark revelation of systemic ignorance and a profound failure of governance.' An NHS Tayside spokesperson said information security is taken very seriously. 'All staff are required to undertake mandatory training in safe information handling and NHS Tayside has a suite of information governance policies for staff to follow, including a data protection policy,' the spokesperson said. 'Currently the majority, 87%, of NHS Tayside staff have completed the safe information handling training. 'All NHS Tayside staff are actively encouraged to report data breaches, no matter how small, through the Datix incident reporting system. 'All breaches of data protection are recorded and investigated within NHS Tayside and, where appropriate, are reported to the Information Commissioner's Office. 'A learning review is ongoing to evaluate systems and processes currently in place and identify actions to further improve data security across NHS Tayside.'


The Courier
10 hours ago
- The Courier
POPPY WATSON: How off-duty NHS heroes helped me after I collapsed while running in Dundee
I've never felt so scared or confused in my life. I didn't know who I was, where I was, or what was happening. Sentiments I think I made clear in my frenzied stream of questions to the group of well-meaning strangers who surrounded me. Apparently, I did a lot of 'wailing' as well. At least according to my mum, who could hear me over the phone. She got a call from a passer-by at 6.36pm on Sunday. The kind woman told my mum that she'd found her daughter unconscious on Ninewells Avenue in the West End of Dundee (conveniently, right next to the hospital). An ambulance was on its way, she said. This was the moment I woke up. I remember three faces staring down at me, or maybe it was four. They looked kind, concerned, young. The sky was so blue. The strangers seemed to know my name, which they used in hushed tones, probably in an attempt to calm me down. But it wasn't working. I was growing increasingly panic-stricken. The appearance of a paramedic who wanted to strap me onto a bed did not help. Then I was rolled into an ambulance, shouting 'WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?' and 'WHERE'S MY AIRPOD CASE?' The doors slammed shut and we headed for Ninewells Hospital. My yelling continued until the paramedic was forced to raise her voice in return. 'I don't know what has happened to you, Poppy,' she said sternly. 'That's why we're taking you to the hospital. The doctors will find out there.' I quickly shut up. Gradually, I returned to my senses. I remembered who I was. I remembered going for a run, feeling lightheaded, seeing black stars, thinking I should just push through. I still didn't know what day it was, or how long I'd been out. The paramedic told me I had been found by a group of off-duty nurses and doctors. I realised they must have used the Medical ID on my iPhone to call my mum, who was now on her way to the hospital with my dad from Edinburgh. This feature, found within the Health app on iPhone, allows users to store and share critical medical information, including allergies, medications, and emergency contacts. It is accessible to first responders or others in case of an emergency, even without needing to unlock the phone. This would also explain how the soft-spoken strangers knew my name. This is my hunch, anyway. It's also possible they were able to unlock my phone using my Face ID while I was passed out. As the ambulance pulled up at the Ninewells A&E department, and I was rolled out the back, I heard someone call my name. Then my friend Zoe, who lives nearby, was hugging me tightly. She had been contacted by my panicked sister from Edinburgh. As Zoe took a photo of me for my family, her boyfriend Ally quipped: 'Poppy will be writing about this in The Courier next week.' We all laughed. The discovery that I had somehow achieved my third fastest time on the Strava running app also offered some light relief. Then I was shown into a room, and before I knew it, the ambulance crew had vanished – and I hadn't even thanked them. Nor did I have a chance to thank the lovely group of doctors and nurses who found me. So yes, I'm writing about my experience in The Courier. I want to say thank you to all the amazing medical staff who looked after me. Truly – thank you. I also want to urge anyone who hasn't filled out the Medical ID on their smartphone to do so. It's likely that because of this feature, I didn't have to spend one minute alone at the hospital. What could have been a lonely and frightening experience in the 30-minute queue at A&E wound up being neither of those things. Zoe and Ally were allowed to keep me company while I waited for a bed to become available. My parents arrived shortly afterwards, and I made them fill out the Medical IDs on their iPhones while I inhaled buttery toast and sugary tea. Most smartphones, including Android devices, have a similar feature. It takes just five minutes to set it up. I'm okay, by the way. The on-duty doctors and nurses at Ninewells Hospital were just as amazing, and all my tests came back normal. It was most likely a matter of being unintentionally under-fuelled and dehydrated (turns out that slice of banana bread was not an ideal substitute for lunch). I'm just thankful I was found by the right people.


The Courier
a day ago
- The Courier
How a Kinross woman's beloved pet dog is inspiring bid to change law
A campaigning mum from Kinross hopes the memory of her much-loved dog will help change the law for people who need 'emotional support animals'. Elizabeth Crammond took up the challenge to change UK equalities law after sadly losing Daisy in March. The Yorkshire terrier, who joined the family in 2009, was a constant companion and helped Elizabeth cope with stressful situations. She has fybromialgia and other debilitating conditions, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The presence of her canine companion was a constant source of comfort after her own mother died from cancer in 2011. Daisy, classed as an emotional support animal with a doctor's note to prove it, would still be turned away from places including restaurants and public venues. 'After my mum passed away, Daisy was my emotional support,' Elizabeth told The Courier. 'She was the tiniest thing, she went everywhere with me to the point I lived my life around her. 'I was having a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, and that's where my fybromialgia would come in.' The condition flared up under stress, she says, causing even more anxiety about leaving the house and living a normal life. 'Daisy knew when an attack was coming and she would bring me back into the zone,' Elizabeth said. Daisy would even help support her own little daughter, now four, as she was growing up. Elizabeth, 42, who works in education, realised she would have to change the Equality Act 2010 to put support animals on the same footing as guide dogs. She's doing that by enlisting help from her local MP Pete Wishart and lodging a petition at Westminster to show UK-wide support. Elizabeth says the change of the law will also help people with unseen conditions, avoiding embarrassing situations in public places. Her petition – called Daisy Companion Law – is live on the Commons website.