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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Robert Booth UK technology editor

Google denies breaching law by promoting suicide forum linked to 164 UK deaths

A person lies in bed in dim light, holding a smartphone that illuminates their face
The site listed by Google was the second entry beneath a link to Samaritans (picture posed by model). Photograph: AlessandroPhoto/Getty

Google has denied breaching the Online Safety Act by promoting a “nihilistic” suicide forum associated with 164 deaths in the UK, where it is supposed to be banned.

The UK’s internet regulator fined the forum’s US-based operator £950,000 because the site, which “presents a material risk of significant harm”, can still be accessed in the UK despite British laws criminalising encouraging or assisting suicide.

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