Posted: | June 28, 2022 04:04 PM |
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From: | Representative MaryLouise Isaacson |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Online Platforms and Suicide |
The internet provides great opportunities for coordinating anti-suicide strategies and education among educators, health care professionals, and advocates. Unfortunately, bad actors have also used the internet to create forums where vulnerable people are encouraged to commit suicide. Regulating these forums is complicated due to much of what is on the forums being protected speech and servers being moved between jurisdictions to prevent regulation. My resolution will establish a task force to study these forums and recommend legislative and executive action to prevent people visiting these websites from committing suicide. The task force will include the Attorney General, the chairs of the House Judiciary, Health, and Human Services Committees; the secretaries of the Departments of Health and Human Services; and psychologists, cyber bullying experts, and suicide prevention advocates. As there are complicated legal issues involved with regulating these web forums, it is important to have a task force composed of subject area experts to recommend action so we can limit the reach of these entities. Please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution so we can protect vulnerable Pennsylvanians and ensure they get the support they need during their darkest hours. |
Introduced as HR221