Legality of the site

[shiba]

Sorry if this is a repeated or annoying question, and this is not a critique of the site at all, I'm just interested in the legal specifics. I'm not too familiar with the legality when talking about suicide, but as deaths are sometimes linked to this site causing an investigation, the next step could be identifying a direct "accomplice" to a suicide. I use that term loosely because people provide information and discussion about suicide, and it's protected under free speech, but there exists a line where you're "encouraging" suicide and I'm interested in where that falls. For example there are multiple threads that describe in great detail methods of suicide. These threads are protected under freedom of speech, but then if a death was linked to this site and that person was "encouraged" by a user, then a warrant could be theoretically used to target another user. Is that something that has happened from this site? What is the difference between discussing methods of suicide and maliciously providing advice?

 

[BradGuy123]

I'm had the same thought. I'm not a lawyer. But I think the legality of the site would depend on where the servers were located. Some countries probably have more liberal free speech laws than others.

Let's say someone did CTB and their family came across the site, could they get some kind of court order to identify the IP addresses of people who replied to their posts about CTB? I have no idea. That's one of the reasons I never provide instructions or encouragement telling someone to CTB. I do try to provide emotional support and engaging conversation. Of course, I'm very new here.

 

[amerie]

I'm had the same thought. I'm not a lawyer. But I think the legality of the site would depend on where the servers were located. Some countries probably have more liberal free speech laws than others.

Let's say someone did CTB and their family came across the site, could they get some kind of court order to identify the IP addresses of people who replied to their posts about CTB? I have no idea. That's one of the reasons I never provide instructions or encouragement telling someone to CTB. I do try to provide emotional support and engaging conversation. Of course, I'm very new here.

The only thing I do is tell people NOT to do a method if it's ineffective and I think others should do the same

 

[WhatCouldHaveBeen32]

There have been people who have tried to do that to users who didn't encourage suicide , just talked to the person who eventually died, however it usually leads nowhere because me talking to someone online about problems that are hushed in society and hearing their thoughts doesn't mean I'm responsible just as they aren't responsible for what happens to me.

The site also has mods, you can't encourage death or suicide. The site is pro-choice , it gives you resources, which are documented and legal information, that have been written in books and manuscripts and articles since their conception. It's not some boogeyman illegal information, it just usually gets banned along side the actual harmful information on the "normal internet" because there would be backlash from people that have different views than ours and from religious people , etc.

It can be illegal to distribute certain materials that the methods demand or to own some of them, you can learn if it's a good method or a bad method and the legality or illegality of it and the risks that come with it which is something very important, the last thing you want as a suicidal person is to end up in jail for a couple of years by accident.

People who come here usually want to find out what is the least painful and most accurate method so they don't end up cripples or vegetables or in prison depending on what kind of substances you need.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

I mean this site was created in 2018 (with predecessors from way back) and has persisted since then despite a lot of challenges. No one who has followed the rules has ever been prosecuted. If someone had that would have changed the way the forum works significantly.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think I read somewhere that there is a time sensitivity issue. So- generally talking about suicide, especially the specifics of a method is far worse if the advice is live as in- I'm taking my own life right now. Can someone talk me through it?

I'm also nervous about where the lines blur though. But then, I'm not knowledgable enough on methods to even be all that useful advice- wise anyway. It's perfectly possible to use the site without going anywhere near discussing methods though.

I imagine how we phrase things makes a difference too- 'I've heard this', or, 'I'm considering this' is different to: 'I think you should try this.'

I tend to wonder if sharing sources could be dodgy. As in- could that person have obtained the (lethal) substance without knowing that source? I think that's in part, why people are so nervous around sharing sources.

 

[Apathy79]

You have to be pretty specific to be legally liable. Posting step by step guides is fine. But if someone is trying to hang themselves right now and it's not quite working and you're trouble shooting them through it while watching their live stream - "no you need to pull it down to this part of your neck and lean this way. That's it. All the best!" That's when you might get in trouble.

 

[Emerita]

I don't know exactly but I from what I understand…

Holding this website accountable in cases of assisted suicide is challenging. The site being hosted in the USA, limits foreign countries ability to take legal action. Laws like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act seem to prevent online censorship; which to my understanding provides legal immunity to online platforms for content posted by users, allowing for free speech and allows platforms to moderate content without fear of legal repercussions for user generated material. Obtaining evidence against the site can also be complicated, especially for foreign countries.

Holding a user accountable is also difficult. If the user is located outside the USA, jurisdictional issues will arise. Proving that the user actively assisted in a suicide is particularly hard if the evidence is circumstantial or involves private chats. Different jurisdictions have varying definitions of what counts as assisting suicide, which also creates difficulty in taking legal action. Again if the ongoing investigation from another country that complicates the ability to obtain information about any user under suspicion. If that user is found in another country, the investigation into assisted suicide presents additional challenges. Overall, it appears difficult to pursue legal action in such cases.

Though I could be wrong Im not American so Im not totally sure.

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Online protection laws powerless to block US-based suicide website linked to New Zealand death
(published Aug. 20 2025) Source

"Even though it mentions that a communication shouldn't incite or encourage an individual to suicide, for it to apply, the communications must basically be directly targeted at the victim. There must be some kind of causation where the communication is intended to actually cause the person to take action towards committing suicide.

"If someone were to just post general information about how to access suicide without awareness that the specific person receiving it is going to commit suicide, that probably wouldn't meet the threshold.

"Basically, in a case like this, the HDCA would only look at individual posts on the forums… It's not really a law that allows us to consider an entire website."

"It's a similar situation with the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act, which has a narrow definition of what can be classified as objectionable."

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Dec. 21 2021 Members of congress Issued A Letter to the department of justice regarding what actions can be taken place against Sanctioned Suicide.

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H.R.9260 - Stop Online Suicide Assistance Forums Act

A bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary - 10/31/2022 - Has not had any further activity since - Source + Source

This bill establishes a new federal criminal offense for using the mail or interstate communication to intentionally assist another individual in taking that individual's own life. The bill imposes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both—for an offense results in death.

The bill provides that any action taken in accordance with state laws governing physician-assisted end of life shall not constitute an offense.

H.R.9260 — 117th Congress
There have been no roll call votes related to this bill.
The bill was not enacted into law.

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Facilitated Suicide Legislation in Each U.S. State and the District of Columbia Table 1

Provides a list in the format below of each state and the corresponding laws involving assisted suicide.

State​	Law​	Type of Crime​	Type of Punishment​	Notes​

Heres the same chart from a different source Table 1 + Table 2