Google, Instagram lack effective policies against self-sabotaging behaviour: report
The Hindu
Stanford researchers ranked 39 online platforms including social networks, search engines and gaming platforms to identify the clarity in public-facing policies relating to self-harming behaviour
(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click to subscribe for free.) Facebook, in its policy documents, addresses issues related suicide, euthanasia, suicide notes and live-streaming suicide attempts. But, Instagram and Reddit are at the other end of spectrum when it comes to primary policy document related to self-sabotaging behaviour. This reveals unevenness in framing public-facing policies for online platforms, according to a study by Stanford University. The team of researchers aggregated the policies of 39 online platforms, including search engines, social networks, creator platforms, gaming platforms and dating apps. They then ranked the platforms based on policy comprehensiveness across several categories and noted that only few platforms provided suicide prevention resources. It also noted that only some of them succeeded in down-ranking self-harm content.![](/newspic/picid-1269750-20250212004700.jpg)
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