Many countries, including Australia, have developed media guidelines for safe reporting of suicide. These guidelines target media professionals and have been largely focused on traditional forms of news and print media, rather than the internet and 'social media'. However, young people increasingly use social media platforms to discuss suicide in a number of ways. Strategies focused on involvement of professionals and on traditional forms of media are therefore less likely to be helpful for young people.
To date, there is a lack of evidence about safe and helpful online peer-to-peer communication about suicide, and there is little guidance available to help young people safely discuss suicide online. The aim of this project was to develop a set of evidence-informed guidelines that could help young people to communicate safely online about suicide.
About #chatsafe
The #chatsafe guidelines were co-created with young people, suicide prevention experts, and media and communications professionals
The voices of young people are vital in our suicide prevention work and we join them in hope for the future
Please use this suggested citation when referencing the #chatsafe guidelines
โ๏ธ Australian online and phone support services ๐ Social media platform resources
โ๏ธ Call 000
For less urgent assistance, contact one of the following support services.
Provides free 24/7 telephone, online, and video counselling and crisis support to all Australians affected by suicide.
โ๏ธ Call 1300 659 467
๐๏ธ Visit suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Provides free 24/7 online and phone personal crisis support and suicide prevention services to all Australians.
โ๏ธ Call 13 11 14
๐๏ธ Visit lifeline.org.au
Provides free and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling for children and young people aged between five and 25 years.
โ๏ธ Call 1800 551 800
๐๏ธ Visit kidshelpline.com.au
Provides email, chat and phone counselling for young people aged between 12 and 25 years. eheadspace operates seven days a week, from 9:00am to 1:00am AEDST.
โ๏ธ Call 1800 650 890
๐๏ธ Visit eheadspace.org.au
US-based links to various social media platform centres:
BeReal help center https://help.bereal.com/hc/en-us
Discord help center https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us
Facebook help center https://www.facebook.com/help
Instagram help center https://help.instagram.com/
Messenger help center https://www.facebook.com/help/messenger-app
Pinterest help center https://help.pinterest.com/en
Reddit help center https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Snapchat help center https://help.snapchat.com/hc/en-us
TikTok help center https://support.tiktok.com/en/
Tumblr help center https://help.tumblr.com/hc/en-us
Twitter help center https://help.twitter.com/en
WhatsApp help center https://faq.whatsapp.com/
YouTube help center https://support.google.com/ youtube/?hl=en#topic=9257498