Meta adds suicide and self injury crisis support feature in India

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

India, social media giant Meta has developed a video that will appear above the existing set of resources to better orient people to Meta's in-product crisis support resources. The video acknowledges the difficulty of experiencing acute distress and encourages people to seek support using tools available on Meta's apps as well as external partner resources in India.

“When someone is expressing thoughts of suicide or self-injury, it’s important to get them help as quickly as possible. For years, Meta has used AI and machine learning to detect and support Facebook and Instagram users who may be signaling they are in crisis,” Meta said in a statement.

The tech giant said it currently supports users by prompting them to speak privately with a trusted friend, connect with trained volunteers via national and local crisis support hotlines or try tips from mental health experts. The video was developed in collaboration with Indian mental health, suicide and self-injury experts including Aparna Joshi, Tata Institute of Social Science, Samir Parikh, Fortis Hospitals, Manoj Sharma, NIMHANS, and Nelson Moses, Suicide Prevention India Foundation.