Suicide baiting in the internet era

Abstract This study examined a sample of 26 cases from 2001 to 2017, in which remote online internet audiences witnessed a disturbed person's threat over a webcam to commit suicide. In almost all cases (92%) the would-be suicide went through with the threat. Baiting or jeering (encouraging the suicide attempt and/or denigrating the victim) occurred in 11 of 26 cases (42%). However assistance (attempts to discourage the suicide threat) also occurred in 88% of cases. This study of online baiting extends Mann’s (1981) archival study of crowd baiting in episodes of suicide threats from buildings and bridges. Analysis of accounts of the 26 online episodes in our study revealed consistent with Mann (1981) that larger internet audiences witnessing the suicide threat and also episodes of longer duration were more likely associated with suicide baiting. We also found audience baiting was associated with apparent drug use by the suicide threatener. Audience anonymity, victim stigmatization, and a belief the victim is “playing” the audience might contribute to online baiting behavior. The high lethality associated with online suicide threats (92% in our sample) reinforces the importance of professional intervention and rapid response in episodes of online suicide threats.