Suicide, Self-Harm, and Social Media Content

Recent media reports have highlighted new research from the Molly Rose Foundation that has been critical of social media companies’ attempts to control potentially harmful content. Specifically, the social media content in question is related to self-harm and suicide, especially that which can be seen by young people. The Molly Rose Foundation was established following the self-inflicted death of a 14-year-old British girl named Molly Russell in 2017. At the inquest into her death, the Coroner stated that she had been: “exposed to material that may have influenced her in a negative way and, in addition, what had started as a depression had become a more serious depressive illness…” This brought to the fore the degree to which content on social media, often aimed at younger people, depicts and normalises self-harm and suicide.

The study from the Molly Rose Foundation¹ suggests that only two out of six major social media companies are actively removing potentially damaging self-harm and suicidal material, and the report suggests this represents a clear problem for the mental health and futures of younger people. The study analysed more than 12 million social media content moderation decisions made by major social media companies. Applying a criterion of those decisions detecting and removing more than 95% of posts containing potentially harmful suicide and self-harm content, the report concluded that only two companies (TikTok and Pinterest) passed the test. The other major social media companies, including Instagram, Meta/Facebook, and X/Twitter, were all failing in this regard—in some cases, almost completely, sometimes removing less than 1% of such materia).

The Chairperson of the foundation has said that this level of responsiveness to content that is taken to be harmful across social media platforms is "inconsistent, uneven and unfit for purpose.”² The topic is clearly emotive and has obvious serious implications if the assumptions underlying the report are justified. The key questions that need to be asked of the assumptions are: Is suicide the problem that it is depicted to be for the population in question? (Certainly, it is at an individual and family level, but is it a widespread issue?) And, is suicide strongly or weakly related to exposure to such social media content?

To place this debate in context, it is worth examining suicide rates over the last quarter-century. According to the UK Office of National Statistics³, the number of suicides in 2022, out of each 100,000 in the population, was 10.7 (16.4 men and 4.5 women out of 100,000). This is slightly up from 2010, when the rate was 9.3 per 100,000 (14.4 men; 4.5 women); but slightly down from 2000 when there were 11.1/100,000 suicides (17.2 men; 5.6 women), and quite a bit down from 1990 when there were 12.8/100,000 suicides (19.5 men; 7.8 women). However, rates for young adults (16-25 years old) are among the lowest, with younger children even lower, and both age groups follow the general up-and-down trend. In fact, the most at-risk group for suicide are middle-aged men. Thus, there does not seem prima facie evidence for increases in suicide, in the UK, as social media becomes more prevalent—and certainly not among the groups using social media most often. Rather, suicide tends to vary with the economy, with the lowest rate being in 2007, at the height of the UK economic boom. As the Molly Rose Foundation is based in the UK, these seem the most appropriate statistics to examine, and they may differ in other countries. In fact, a quick examination of the situation in the U.S. suggests an increasing suicide trajectory for all age groups since 2000, so things may be different there.

The question remains whether the evidence, overall, suggests that viewing self-harm content, which not everyone uses social media to do, is linked to self-harm. A review of literature exploring such associations was conducted in 2023⁴. The review found 15 studies that examined the relationship between viewing self-harm content on social media and self-harming behaviours and thoughts. All of these studies found negative effects of viewing such social media content. These effects included increased actual self-harm, increased posting about the topic, and increased comparison of own and others’ self-harming. There was evidence of the development of a ‘self-harm identity’, where the person cannot conceive of their life without such thoughts or behaviours. However, 9 of the 15 studies also noted mitigating influences from viewing self-harm-related content, including reducing/curtailing self-harm, promoting recovery, and increasing social connection and support. In none of these 15 studies was causality unambiguous, and it remains unclear whether viewing or harming comes first. Thus, the review⁴ suggests that, while there may be harms, they are not clear for everybody. Of course, it may be that these studies did not measure the variables that would reveal the relationship properly.

One study that comes close to establishing the temporal precedence of social media viewing over suicidal behaviour was conducted in Taiwan⁵. This report analysed social media posts with suicidal (rather than self-harm) content, posted between 2012 and 2021, and suicides among younger people. It found that an increase in suicide-related posts predicted increased levels of suicide, but not vice versa. In contrast, levels of traditional media reports of suicide were not related to suicide rates. This latter finding may indicate that younger people pay more attention to social media than to traditional media. The stronger relationship between potentially harmful social media posts and suicidal behaviour, noted by this study⁵, in comparison to the somewhat weaker evidence noted above⁴, may relate to the salience of the posts—suicide versus self-harm; behaviours which also can have very different functions from one another.

Taken together, these findings suggest some self-harm and, especially, suicidal content on social media can have negative effects on young people. The impact of social-media content on suicide rates is not as pronounced as socio-economic factors, and can be hidden among general trends, but it is still present for some. The clear question emerging is, if there is not a strong and clear relationship for everybody, what is it about such social media content that generates the potential for self-harm, including suicide, in some young people?

If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help immediately. For help 24/7 dial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. To find a therapist near you, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.