Sanctioned Suicide

For related topics, see Suicide (disambiguation). For information on prevention, see Suicide prevention.

Sanctioned Suicide
The letters SS in all-caps in a white serif font on a black background.
Logo
Screenshot
A purple themed forum. At the top is a purple bar with the text "SanctionedSuicide" on the left side and log-in and registration buttons on the right side. On the left are buttons for "Forums" (which is selected), "Rules & Info", and "Tickets". There are four sections in the middle which include: "News & Announcements", "Suicide Discussion", "Recovery", and "Offtopic". Various scenes of nature are greyed out, and user icons are blacked out. On the right are sections for "Staff online", "New Threads", "Forum statistics", and "Donations".
Screenshot of Sanctioned Suicide on May 11, 2022, with various scenes of nature greyed out
Type of site
Internet forum
Available inEnglish
Founder(s)
  • Diego Joaquín Galante
  • Lamarcus Small
RegistrationOptional[a]
LaunchedMarch 18, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-03-18)
Current statusOnline

Sanctioned Suicide (SS) is an internet forum known for its open discussion and encouragement of suicide and suicide methods.[1][2][3] The forum was founded on March 18, 2018, by Diego Joaquín Galante and Lamarcus Small,[1] who go by the online pseudonyms Serge and Marquis. Galante and Small created the website after the subreddit r/SanctionedSuicide was banned by Reddit; both the website and the subreddit have been described as the successors to the Usenet newsgroup alt.suicide.holiday. As of October 2023, the forum has over 40,000 members and was reported to receive nearly 10 million page views in September 2023. Although the forum frames itself as a "pro-choice" suicide forum,[2] it has been widely described as "pro-suicide".[4][5][6]: 2 

Sanctioned Suicide has generated widespread scrutiny from news outlets and government officials for the encouragement of suicide by members on the site,[4][7][8] as well as the site's promotion of the use of sodium nitrite as a method of suicide, a previously obscure method.[1][3][5] One New York Times report found 45 adults and children who died in connection to the site, and a later report found dozens more. BBC News has identified 50 people who died in connection to the site in the United Kingdom. Access to the forum has been restricted in Italy, Germany and the UK. Since November 2023 Turkey also blocked access to the site.[9]


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  1. ^ a b c Twohey, Megan; Dance, Gabriel J. X. (December 9, 2021). "Where the Despairing Log On, and Learn Ways to Die". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Gale A686537417. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Love, Shayla (November 19, 2020). "People Are Dying After Joining a 'Pro-Choice' Suicide Forum". Vice News. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Dance, Gabriel J. X.; Twohey, Megan (December 21, 2021). "Lawmakers Urge Big Tech to 'Mitigate Harm' of Suicide Site and Seek Justice Inquiry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Delaney, James (December 22, 2022). "First conviction for man who encouraged women on website to take own lives". STV News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ McGarvey, Emily (May 8, 2021). "Mother speaks out against suicide forum after son's death". BBC Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  8. ^ Bucher, Merideth (September 23, 2019). "Shawn's Law; a bill to combat aided suicide". WITF. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "Turkish Internet Restrictions". internet.btk.gov.tr. Retrieved August 31, 2024.