Government to update lawfor internet misuse
The government has announced that it will be updating the Suicide Act 1961 to reassure people that the law on assisting suicide applies to activities on the internet as well as offline activities.
The government intends to simplify and modernise the scope of the Act, particularly section 2 which deals with the assisted suicide offence, rather than to extend the ambit of the current law.
This should make it easier for internet users and internet-based businesses, such as internet service providers, to understand their potential liability under the Act. The decision to review the Act follows the recommendations of the Law Commission in July 2006 and the publication of the Byron Report Safer Children in the Digital World in March 2008 which (among other things) identified suicide-promoting websites as an area where there is some confusion about the application of the law to online activity.
Source: Ministry of Justice, press release; statement of Minister Maria Eagle, 17 September 2008.
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