Livestreamed suicide

Livestreamed suicide is an internet phenomenon that occurs when a person deliberately broadcasts their suicide through a live stream via online platforms such as social media or video hosting sites in real time to an audience of viewers.[1][2]

Livestreamed suicide broadcasts have become a new public health problem in many countries. Regular users are often the first to witness such suicides and react to them.[2] The lack of instant moderation, the nature of distribution algorithms, and delays in moderation responses make live streams particularly vulnerable to prolonged exposure to harmful content,[1] often traumatizing relatives and viewers.[3]

History

One well known case of a suicide livestream was broadcast in 2008, when 19-year-old Abraham K. Biggs from Florida wrote several times on an online bodybuilding forum that he was planning to kill himself. Finally, he posted a link to the live-streaming site Justin.tv, where a video was shown of him killing himself with an overdose of prescription drugs. According to ABC News, some bloggers who caught the live broadcast egged him on while he was in the act.[4]

High-profile incidents began to emerge as early as the 2010s. In 2016, The Guardian reported that a young man's suicide had been broadcast on Periscope in France, prompting an investigation by law enforcement agencies and public outcry.[5][6]

A study on the use of social media to express suicidal thoughts/actions in Bangladesh reported 19 cases of suicide after announcements on social media, two of which were livestreamed.[7] Between 2003 and 2016, at least 193 similar incidents were recorded in China. Most of them occurred on social media.[8]

Reasons

Such cases highlight the interconnected nature of real-time digital platforms, which allow stories about suicides to become popular and details to develop due to public participation and the spread of information.[9] Live streaming can be seen by the author as a way to perceivably "get through", ask for help, or "leave a last message".[10] The Centre for Suicide Prevention notes that a 35-year-old man from China broadcast his hanging live, likely to send a message to his loved ones, who may have wanted to see him in his last moments, and to explain his state of mind without words.[11]

In 2017, The Washington Post reported on a 12-year-old girl who committed suicide in live broadcast, citing sexual abuse by a relative as the reason for her actions.[12][13]

Consequences

World Health Organization notes that there is evidence that media reports of suicide can either strengthen or weaken suicide prevention efforts. Widespread stories about deaths by suicide are often followed by an increase in suicides among the population, while stories about overcoming suicidal crises can lead to a decrease in suicides.[14][15]

Studies note the Werther effect, an increase in copycat suicides following media or public coverage of suicide.[16] In the modern context of social media, evidence suggests that there is a risk of imitation, especially if the content is dramatized or the methods are described in detail.[17] Direct depictions of death increase the risk of acute trauma, flashbacks, and mental health deterioration in vulnerable groups.[10]

Notable cases

Russia

On 17 October 2019 in Moscow, an 18-year-old student named Gleb Korablev died by suicide while broadcasting the event on his VKontakte page. He raised a Saiga-12K carbine to his head, and shouted the phrase "Ня, пока!" (Nya, bye!) used online by another teenager, Renata Kambolina, who had similarly died by suicide. Two and a half hours later, police officers arrived at the apartment and turned off the camera.[18] The video was uploaded to YouTube on the 19th of October under the title "Video 1444", and stayed up for three days before being taken down. At the time of its takedown, it had ~150,000 views. The video was then subsequently reuploaded to various social media platforms, bearing the "1444" name, throughout late 2019.[19]

On 13 September 2021 in Zelenograd, during a live broadcast, a 17-year-old girl committed suicide while listening to the song "Numbers" by the singer LSP. Footage that appeared online shows the girl sitting on the edge of a balcony railing listening to the song, then falling down. On 19 September, her act was repeated by a 19-year-old man from Krasnodar, who also listened to this song before committing suicide.[20] After the incident, the singer members decided to remove the song from streaming platforms.[21] When searching for the song, TikTok began redirecting users to a psychological help hotline and providing recommendations on how to cope during difficult times.[22]

Ukraine

On the afternoon of 2 October 2023, a double suicide occurred in Kyiv. An 18-year-old, Volodymyr Polyvach (Vova), and his 17-year-old foster sister, Viktoria Polyvach (Vika), also known as Vika and Vova, jumped from a 24th-floor balcony while livestreaming on TikTok. Before committing suicide, they had posted dozens of videos on their Telegram channel.[23]

United States

Suicide of Katelyn Nicole Davis: On 30 December 2016, 12-year-old Katelyn Nicole Davis hung herself on a tree during a livestream in Cedartown, Georgia. The video spread across social networks.[24]

Suicide of Ronnie McNutt: On 31 August 2020, 33-year-old American Ronald Merle McNutt committed suicide during a Facebook Live broadcast. This incident became one of the most widely discussed cases of livestreamed suicide in the media. After this incident, public and researcher attention focused on the work of platform moderation and how videos are distributed further.[25][26][27]

Japan

On 24 November 2013, a 14-year-old girl known as Rorochan_1999 took her own life during a livestream by jumping from the balcony of her apartment building. In 2020, the Japanese band Shinsei Kamattechan released the song “Ruru's Suicide Show on a Livestream”, inspired by the events of the livestream.[28][29]

United Kingdom

Suicide of Kevin Whitrick: On 21 March 2007, Kevin Neil Witrick, a British electrical engineer, committed suicide by hanging himself while in an online chat room.[30]

South Korea

On 5 August 2026, 26-year-old Japanese woman, Mina Chan, died by suicide in her apartment in Seoul, South Korea while on a TikTok livestream after experiencing cyberbullying.[31]

Chan was a fan of K-pop boy band Enhypen. On 26 July 2026, she threw a bouquet of sunflowers and roses during their concert in Tacoma, Washington, United States. On 30 July 2026, member Ni-Ki started a livestream on South Korean platform Weverse to discuss concert etiquette. Fans speculated that the live was targeted to Chan which led to harassing comments on her social media.[32] Chan posted an apology on X.[33]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kaushik, Ruchika; Gaur, Sanya; Pandit, Jay Narayan; Satapathy, Sujata; Behera, Chittaranjan (2023-12-01). "Live streaming of suicide on Facebook". Psychiatry Research Case Reports. 2 (2) 100141. doi:10.1016/j.psycr.2023.100141. ISSN 2773-0212.
  2. 1 2 Li, Ang; Jiao, Dongdong; Liu, Xingyun; Sun, Jiumo; Zhu, Tingshao (2019-08-09). "A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Responses to Live-Stream Suicides on Social Media". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16 (16): 2848. doi:10.3390/ijerph16162848. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 6719129. PMID 31404975.
  3. ↑ Reynolds, Emily. "Police investigating after girl broadcasts suicide on Periscope". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  4. ↑ "Florida Teen Live-Streams His Suicide Online". ABC News. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  5. ↑ France-Presse, Agence (2016-05-11). "Periscope used by French teenager to live-stream her own suicide". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  6. ↑ Blaise, Lilia; Morenne, Benoît (2016-05-11). "Suicide on Periscope Prompts French Officials to Open Inquiry (Published 2016)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  7. ↑ Soron, Tanjir Rashid; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful (2020-05-26). "Suicide on Facebook-the tales of unnoticed departure in Bangladesh". Global Mental Health. 7 e12. doi:10.1017/gmh.2020.5. ISSN 2054-4251. PMC 7379323. PMID 32742670.
  8. ↑ Li, Ang; Huang, Xiaoxiao; Zhu, Tingshao (2017-10-04). "A systematic analysis of online broadcasts of suicidality in China". Asia-Pacific Psychiatry. 10 (3) e12302. doi:10.1111/appy.12302. ISSN 1758-5872. PMID 28976066.
  9. ↑ Bell, Jo; Westoby, Christopher (2025-04-12). "Public and mental health professionals' perspectives on social media and suicide exposure". BMC Public Health. 25 (1): 1380. doi:10.1186/s12889-025-22587-6. ISSN 1471-2458. PMC 11992749. PMID 40221713.
  10. 1 2 Shoib, Sheikh; Chandradasa, Miyuru; Nahidi, Mahsa; Amanda, Tan Weiling; Khan, Sonia; Saeed, Fahimeh; Swed, Sarya; Mazza, Marianna; Di Nicola, Marco; Martinotti, Giovanni; Di Giannantonio, Massimo; Armiya'u, Aishatu Yusha'u; De Berardis, Domenico (2022-10-11). "Facebook and Suicidal Behaviour: User Experiences of Suicide Notes, Live-Streaming, Grieving and Preventive Strategies-A Scoping Review". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19 (20) 13001. doi:10.3390/ijerph192013001. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 9603228. PMID 36293584.
  11. ↑ "Live streaming of suicide on Facebook". Centre for Suicide Prevention. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  12. ↑ "A 12-year-old girl live-streamed her suicide. It took two weeks for Facebook to take the video down". The Washington Post. 2017-01-15. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  13. ↑ "A 12-Year-Old Girl Live-Streamed Her Suicide; Facebook Took 2 Weeks To Take Video Down". NDTV. Archived from the original on 2025-05-15. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  14. ↑ Preventing Suicide: a Resource for Media Professionals, 2023 Update (1st ed.). Geneva: World Health Organization. 2023. ISBN 978-92-4-007684-6.
  15. ↑ "Preventing suicide: a resource for media professionals, update 2023". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  16. ↑ Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas; Braun, Marlies; Pirkis, Jane; Till, Benedikt; Stack, Steven; Sinyor, Mark; Tran, Ulrich S; Voracek, Martin; Cheng, Qijin; Arendt, Florian; Scherr, Sebastian; Yip, Paul S F; Spittal, Matthew J (2020-03-18). "Association between suicide reporting in the media and suicide: systematic review and meta-analysis". BMJ. 368: m575. doi:10.1136/bmj.m575. PMC 7190013. PMID 32188637.
  17. ↑ Calvo, Serena; Carrasco, Juan Pablo; Conde-Pumpido, Celia; Esteve, Jose; Aguilar, Eduardo Jesús (2024-06-05). "Does suicide contagion (Werther effect) take place in response to social media? A systematic review". Spanish Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health (in Spanish). 19 (1): S2950–2853(24)00032–2. doi:10.1016/j.sjpmh.2024.05.003. ISSN 2950-2853. PMID 38848950.
  18. ↑ ""Это не шок-контент, это реальность"" [“This isn't shock content — it's reality.”] (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  19. ↑ toaster_strudel. "Video 1444: Everything We Know (Including Link to Video) About the Live-Streamed Russian Suicide Video". www.ebaumsworld.com. Retrieved 2026-03-28.
  20. ↑ "«Номера» в топы. Почему поклонники ЛСП переслушивают трек и винят подростков" [«Numbers» in the tops. Why LSP Fans Keep Listening to the Track and Blame Teenagers]. Medialeaks (in Russian). 2021-09-20. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  21. ↑ "Группа ЛСП удалит песню «Номера» после самоубийства в прямом эфире" [The LSP band will remove the song “Numbers” following a suicide on live stream]. РБК (in Russian). 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  22. ↑ "ТикТок при поиске "Номеров" ЛСП перенаправляет на телефон доверия" [When searching for the song “Numbers” by the band LSP, TikTok redirects users to a helpline]. The-Flow.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  23. ↑ "Самоубийство подростков в Киеве: Вика и Вова жили в образцовой семье и влюбились друг в друга" [Teen Suicide in Kyiv: Vika and Vova Came from an Ideal Family and Fell in Love with Each Other]. ТСН.ua. 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2026-06-18.
  24. ↑ "US police 'can't force' websites to remove copies of suicide streamed on social media". BBC.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ↑ Steinbuch, Yaron (2020-09-09). "Ronnie McNutt shared heartbreaking message before suicide". NY Post. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  26. ↑ Coldewey, Devin (2020-09-13). "Graphic video of suicide spreads from Facebook to TikTok to YouTube as platforms fail moderation test". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  27. ↑ "Friend challenges Facebook over Ronnie McNutt suicide video". BBC News. 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  28. ↑ "飛び降り自殺の中3女子、「動画中継」していた？ 大手マスコミが詳細を報じないのはなぜか". j-cast.com. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  29. ↑ "女子高生に広がる市販薬の乱用、その背景にある"深刻な現実"とは？". diamond.jp. 2025-09-14. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  30. ↑ Bale, Joanna (2007-03-24). "Get on with it, said net audience as man hanged himself on webcam". The Times. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  31. ↑ II, Moises Mendez. "Mina Chan, K-pop TikTok influencer, dies on livestream". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  32. ↑ "Japanese influencer Mina Chan dies at 26 amid K-pop fan harassment - Northeast Times". 2026-08-07. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  33. ↑ "Who was Mina Chan? ENHYPEN fan dies by suicide at 26 as Ni-ki faces backlash over livestream remarks". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2026-08-12. Retrieved 2026-08-12.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.