According to Reuters, Amazon announced on Thursday that they plan to provide help phone calls for users searching for the word ‘suicide’ on their website. Previous research by the company showed that users can search for lassos and other items that could cause personal injury.
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Last week, when users searched for the word ‘suicide’ on Amazon’s US website, the search results showed the user a ‘suicide kit’ and a lasso. The Amazon India website will show sleeping pills, pesticides and a book called How to Suicide.
National regulators are currently improving their censorship for large technology companies, and Amazon has encountered many difficulties in managing its large online market. In its online marketplace, many third-party sellers have information about contraband or illegal goods. And they are doing their best not to be discovered by Amazon.
After learning about the existence of these goods, Amazon removed the book and lasso and other products.
The company’s website shows that the retailer prohibits merchants from selling non-media products that promote or beautify suicidal behavior.
Last week, there were reports that more than 4,000 items on the Amazon market were labeled as deceptive, or prohibited by relevant US agencies, and some were dangerous goods.
Google, Facebook and Twitter have also launched hotlines in response to user queries about the term ‘suicide’.
Although many social media platforms have been reviewed in the past few months, the content of the review is how these platforms combat violence and potentially dangerous content. But so far, this debate has not touched Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer.
What Amazon Is Planning To Do?
Amazon said that if a consumer sees an item that causes them to be concerned, he/she can click on the report box at the bottom of the product details page.
The company said that suicide helpline information will also be added to the details page of some products to inform consumers that they can receive free and confidential support through organizations such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
In the coming weeks, when a user searches for keywords related to suicide, the aforementioned information will appear. Also starting next week, this information will appear on the suicide-related book details page on Amazon’s US and UK websites.