Ghaziabad: An agreement between the Uttar Pradesh police and Facebook parent company Meta has saved the lives of at least two people this week. Tracking posts and live feeds, the tech giant managed to thwart two suicide attempts in the state and informed the police. Officials then traced the individuals in question and stopped them from taking their own lives.
“If any person posts something related to suicide or self-harm on Facebook or Instagram, then Meta headquarters in USA immediately sends an alert to the social media centre of PHQ UP Police through phone and email,” officials explained.
In one case, a college student from the Ambedkarnagar district had taken to Instagram to assert that she was going to commit suicide. Late on Friday night, the pupil posted pictures of the pills she was going to consume, prompting Meta to alert the UP police with her details.
The update came at 11.37 pm, and the police reached the woman’s place within 15 minutes. They successfully dissuaded her from taking the extreme step and also took her family into confidence.
Mere days earlier, Meta had relayed information to the police as a man in Ghaziabad prepared to hang himself from a ceiling fan. He had been livestreaming the planned act on Instagram. The man had been depressed after losing ₹90,000 in a business. Vijayanagar Police Station Inspector Anita Chauhan reached the spot within 13 minutes and prevented the man from killing himself.
According to the police, more than 10 lives have been saved so far.
