User fakes suicide to see how the Facebook suicide prevention tool works

Shane Tusch faked his suicide in an attempt to test the authenticity of Facebook suicide prevention tool and got detained for 72 hours

Facebook has rolled out a set of tools to keep a check on its users who are having suicidal tendencies and prevent these users from suicidal attempts. In case some user is having suicidal thoughts and mentions that in the Facebook posts and if a friend of that user reports it to Facebook then a third party will immediately review the post and Facebook would lock the suicidal user’s account and the user will be made to read Facebook’s suicide prevention materials.

Fake suicide attempt

I wonder where those "suicide prevention materials" come from?
I wonder who the third party is?

I don't see how "locking" their account when they are looking for attention (for their issues) or an outlet would be helpful...having that outlet may be the only thing that kept them hanging on this long.
What if that actually contributed TO the suicide?

Strange

very mixed feelings.
Ok i get you want to see if a system that might save lives actually does so, and is not something they just added for legal reasons.
At the same time, using resources and deflecting attention from other serious cases is not the way to go.
And not telling anyone in your social circle makes you look selfish, people that care about him probably freaked out.

But if you don't test the system you have no way of knowing if it's real.

screw it i have no idea what to think, someone please give me an opinion to have.

Locking the account probably preserves the evidence for authorities and prevents lots of 'do it' posts encouraging someone to go through with a suicide.

I think a 72 hour psych eval. for people publicly claiming they are planning suicide is appropriate (I also think suicide should not be illegal).

originally posted by: Elton
(I also think suicide should not be illegal).

It's not if you do it in the privacy of your own home and don't make yourself a public spectacle.

On the OP: I read up on this and it sounds like to me like the guy wasn't "testing FB" but was actually venting out frustration and "Pretending to commit suicide" to get attention to his cause. As they say he's an activist.

When he was caught, i believe is when he said "Oh i was just testing you guy.. heh.. heh.." which is why NO ONE was told about it before hand. If I was testing that, i would at least tell my wife...

I feel as if the majority of those who post thoughts about suicide on social media are just looking for attention. Earlier this year a family friend, and coworker that I worked with at a past job took his life and upon looking at his Facebook page to see if there were any signs before it happens, his family only found normal posts and pictures of his dog. And the most recent were within 3 days of his passing.

There were no signs or warnings.

Depression and suicide are horrible things, and to make things worse its expensive to get professional help.

a reply to: Elton

Suicide isn't illegal. "Attempting" suicide is although i don't think it should be.

If it locks the user's account, liked mentioned above it preserves evidence. It also keeps Facebook's hands clean in the even the individual does go through with suicide. I could see a family suing Facebook because the site allowed people to egg on their family member.

Facebook sees you as a dollar sign, that's all.

From reading the article, this man didn't fake a suicide attempt. He expressed an intention to publicly commit suicide out of real frustration he was having with the bank. Whether or not he actually planned on following through with it or not could be arguable. Further more, the only thing facebook is really doing here is locking the account after it gets reported (which I'm assuming one of his friends or family did). Someone also reported it to the police though, and that's what landed him in the psych eval. Personally, I agree with all the steps taken here. This man is under-employed with long-time financial problems. They make it a point to call him an activist. He has a wife and children and publicly declared a suicide plot, saying he did it to draw attention to the bank. I think his mind was at least weighing the option of suicide to pull this stunt.

Dead people don't pay taxes, and do nothing to perpetuate the bureaucracy.

What a mess.

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: Elton

Suicide isn't illegal. "Attempting" suicide is although i don't think it should be.

This is no longer the case in the U.K.

Lock a persons FB account who is thinking about killing themselves.... I totally see the logic behind that.. *eye roll *

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: Elton

Suicide isn't illegal. "Attempting" suicide is although i don't think it should be.

That's so ridiculous! Nothing about that makes sense.

I"m sorry, but this:

Tusch was detained in a mental asylum for about 72 hours i.e. 3 days. Not only that it seems he was tested for TB, HIV and overall 7 blood tests done along with his urine tests. He also posted that he was kept in a very inhumane conditions.

Emphasis by me

Anyone else feel like if someone was really thinking about suicide, this might just push them over the edge? This all feels far too invasive and borderline infringement on our human rights.

originally posted by: Aedaeum
I"m sorry, but this:

Tusch was detained in a mental asylum for about 72 hours i.e. 3 days. Not only that it seems he was tested for TB, HIV and overall 7 blood tests done along with his urine tests. He also posted that he was kept in a very inhumane conditions.

Emphasis by me

Anyone else feel like if someone was really thinking about suicide, this might just push them over the edge? This all feels far too invasive and borderline infringement on our human rights.

I agree fully on that.

If these cases are going to end up with situations like his that could make the situation be something it's not. Including people with a dark sense of humor-but reviewed as a threat to themselves by the third party- then this, as described above, is becoming way too invasive.

A friend once described her attempts to prevent an actual suicide attempt via facebook interaction and get help for the person (who was in another city) almost 1000 miles away.

With that in mind, I'm not sure if I would trust facebook to reliably know the difference between a genuine suicide attempt and someone just looking for attention. In some cases, maybe, but often the real hints may be a lot less direct and blatant. A genuine suicide might isolate him/herself rather than seeking interaction. In the case in question I'm referring to, what my friend noticed was the person unfriending people on a huge scale and sending them goodbye messages. He didn't specifically state that he was going to kill himself, but the non-direct hints were enough of a red flag to this girl that she spent most of the evening trying to locate someone who knew his physical address and go over there to check on him. She did save his life.

Would facebook have picked up the right warning signs in that case? One wonders....