Google denies breaching law by promoting suicide forum linked to 164 UK deaths

The US-based site, whose operators were fined £950,000 by Ofcom, appears in Google’s search results and can be accessed in UK

Google has denied breaching the Online Safety Act by promoting a “nihilistic” suicide forum associated with 164 deaths in the UK where it is supposed to be banned.

The UK’s internet regulator fined the forum’s US-based operator £950,000 because the site, which “presents a material risk of significant harm”, can still be accessed in the UK despite British laws criminalising encouraging or assisting suicide.