Russian watchdog detects over 23,000 websites promoting suicide

Moscow: Russia's consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has in the past five years detected over 23,000 websites which promote suicide or contain information on how to commit suicide, the media reported on Wednesday. "Since November 1, 2012, Rospotrebnadzor has examined more than 25,000 websites, and 23,700 of them were found containing information about ways to commit suicide or calls for committing suicide," Xinhua cited a Rospotrebnadzor statement as saying on Tuesday. The watchdog said it had worked with law enforcement to exchange information about communities and groups that promote suicidal behaviour among children and teenagers online. Suicide is a significant social issue in Russia. However, as the government stepped up efforts to solve this issue, suicide rates had decreased for 14 consecutive years to a 50-year low in 2015, according to data published by the Russian statistical agency Rosstat. According to earlier reports, Russian telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor has blocked access to more than 275,000 websites since the government introduced tough laws restricting access to websites with suicide-related information nearly five years ago.