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Suicide and self-harm are complex mental health issues that can have devastating consequences. At Meta, we\u2019ve worked with experts for years \u2013 including our suicide and self-harm advisory group and members of Meta\u2019s own safety teams \u2013 to develop an informed and thoughtful approach to suicide and self harm content shared on our apps.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, like many other types of potentially problematic content, suicide and self-harm content is not limited to any one platform. To be truly effective in responding to this content, tech companies need to work together. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve worked with the Mental Health Coalition<\/a> to establish Thrive, the first signal sharing program to share signals about violating suicide and self-harm content.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Through Thrive, participating tech companies will be able to share signals about violating suicide or self-harm content so that other companies can investigate and take action if the same or similar content is being shared on their platforms. Meta is providing the technical infrastructure that underpins Thrive \u2013 the same technology we provide to the <\/span>Tech Coalition\u2019s Lantern program<\/span><\/a> \u2013 which enables signals to be shared securely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Participating companies will start by sharing hashes \u2013 numerical codes that correspond to violating content \u2013 of images and videos showing graphic suicide and self-harm, and of content depicting or encouraging viral suicide or self-harm challenges. We\u2019re prioritizing this content because of its propensity to spread across different platforms quickly. These initial signals represent content only, and will not include identifiable information about any accounts or individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n Thrive builds on the work we already do at Meta to remove harmful content that shows graphic imagery or encourages suicide or self-harm, while still giving space for people to talk about their own experiences. We also provide support to those sharing and searching for content related to suicide or self-harm by connecting them to local organizations around the world, including Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and Crisis Text Line in the US.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Between April and June this year, <\/span>we took action<\/span><\/a> on over 12 million pieces of suicide and self-harm content on Facebook and Instagram. While we allow people to discuss their experiences with suicide and self-harm \u2013 as long as it\u2019s not graphic or promotional \u2013 this year we\u2019ve taken <\/span>important steps<\/span><\/a> to make this content harder to find in Search and to hide it completely from teens, even if it\u2019s shared by someone they follow.<\/span><\/p>\n Thrive will help keep people safe not just on Meta\u2019s apps, but across all the apps and services they use. We\u2019re proud to work with the Mental Health Coalition and our industry partners Snap and TikTok on this vital work. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n