Chapter 12 - Safely Navigating the Terrain: Keeping Young People Safe Online

Summary

In this chapter we will provide some practical information regarding the ways in which social media platforms can create and maintain safe online spaces when it comes to mental health, and in particular suicide prevention. This will include: (i) a brief overview of policy approaches and frameworks adopted in some countries; (ii) a discussion of the role of platforms, including their own policies, and the provision of tools and resources that can be accessed by users to improve safety; and (iii) we will provide a case example of how one educational approach designed to facilitate safe online communication about suicide was developed, delivered, and evaluated, with a view to considering how this approach might be applied to other topics. Finally, we will argue that the best results are likely to be achieved when all three approaches work together in concert.