Suicide Forums in the Dark Web: Psychosocial Dimensions, Youth Vulnerability and Prevention Strategies in Cybersuicidal Greece and Slovakia

Abstract

This essay examines the phenomenon of suicide forums in the dark web using material from recent studies published at the widely accessible part of the Internet (surface web). Namely, we clarify the terms “cybersuicide” and “Werther effect”, examine the personality traits that are linked to suicidal tendencies, and analyse the differentiation between the terms “deep web”, “dark net”, and “dark web”, which often get mixed up in everyday use. At the same time, we examine the way suicide is propagated to young people through the dark web forums, report on the basic conversation topics that take place there, study the profiles of the people who constitute them, the motives behind user participation, but also the possibilities for preventing young people’s exposure to these web-sites. The aim of this essay is to achieve a critical understanding of the ominous but real phenomenon of online communities involved in the issue of suicide in Greece and Slovakia and to shed light on the dangers that lurk for young people who navigate the side of the Internet that hosts as much information as it does dangers.