DHAKA: Police in Bangladesh have joined forces with social media giants Meta and TikTok in an effort to prevent suicides after a man in Dhaka shot himself in the head during a livestream earlier this month.
The death of the 58-year-old man on Feb. 2, identified as Abu Mohsin Khan, father-in-law of renowned Bangladeshi actor Riaz Uddin Ahamed Siddique, shocked the South Asian country, which recorded more than 14,000 suicides in 2019.
The livestream incident prompted the country’s Criminal Investigation Department to work with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok to identify users at risk of suicide. In the weeks since starting their collaboration, police said they have been alerted to at least one suicide threat daily.
“The persons we identified as vulnerable to suicide are suffering from trauma. All of them were found in a detached mental state from family or society,” Mohammad Mahmudul Islam Talukder, assistant superintendent at CID’s Cyber Police Center, told Arab News.
“The people need assistance and counseling,” he added, describing the situation as a “humanitarian” issue.
Last Friday, Meta alerted police of a suicide threat involving a 22-year-old in Manikganj district, some 55 km from the capital. Authorities said the user wrote about taking a dozen sleeping pills after his girlfriend had backed out from a marriage that was supposed to take place this week. Though authorities were able to trace him and intervene, they said he is still processing the trauma.
Police data showed men aged 16 to 32 in Bangladesh are more prone to suicide.
Talukder said Meta uses artificial intelligence to identify suicide risks on their platforms, taking into account not only certain keywords but also analyzing images and videos that may showcase people in danger of harming themselves. The police, meanwhile, have 14 members in their expert team working on this issue.
Meta has said it does not allow self-harm or suicide to be promoted or celebrated on Facebook and Instagram. The company removed copies of Khan’s suicide, and implemented measures to prevent other users from reposting the content.
In the US and other countries, Meta has in recent years worked with law enforcement to flag possible suicide threats, but this appears to be the first time such a collaboration has taken place in Bangladesh.
"We are constantly improving our systems to detect and take down violating content as quickly as possible,” a Meta spokesperson told Arab News. “We also consult with experts in suicide and self-injury to help inform our policies and enforcement, and work with organizations in Bangladesh and around the world to provide assistance to people in distress.”
Bangladesh police said they are also working with video-sharing platform TikTok in suicide prevention efforts.
However, recent incidents may only illustrate the tip of the iceberg, with about half of suicide attempts remaining unreported in the country, according to Dr. ASM Amanullah from Dhaka University.
The sociology professor said there is an “epidemic of suicide” in Bangladesh. The country of about 167 million only has about 500 professional psychologists and 1,200 counselors, he added.
“We have yet to develop a system to address mental health issues,” Amanullah told Arab News.
Not only does the country need more psychologists, he said organizations should be working with mental health professionals to address these issues among their employees.
“A massive investment is required to deal with the mental health of the people (in Bangladesh),” he added.
