Twitter brings back its suicide prevention function, after briefly suspending it

The #ThereIsHelp banner, which directed users to suicide prevention hotlines and other safety services when searching for certain material, is reportedly being brought back by Twitter. According to Reuters' story on Friday, Elon Musk had instructed the business to remove the safety measure earlier in the week.

Ella Irwin, Twitter's head of trust and safety, acknowledged the removal after the publication of the article but stated that it was only temporary. Our prompts have been updated and fixed. While we do that, they were just momentarily gone, she told Reuters. Next week, we anticipate having them back up.

Musk refuted claims that Twitter had ever deleted the function on Saturday morning. Actually, the message is still visible. This is false information, stated Elon Musk on Twitter, adding, "Twitter doesn't stop suicide."

Irwin told Reuters that going ahead, Twitter intends to follow Google's lead. Using them, the business "does pretty well in their search results, and [we] are really mimicking some of their strategy with the adjustments we are doing," she said.

Even though it was only temporary, the #ThereIsHelp banner's absence prompted some proponents of consumer protection to criticize Twitter. Former Trust and Safety council member Eirliani Abdul Rahman told Reuters that she found the incident "very uncomfortable and terribly upsetting." Rahman said that businesses often develop safety measures "in parallel," keeping the ones that are currently in use before replacing them.

Calling 988 or 800-273-8255 will connect you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US.