Facebook is dealing with a test of its policies barring live streams involving suicide and self-harm. The social media giant told the AFP (via The Verge) it would block terminally ill French man Alain Cocq from livestreaming his death. The French government had denied Cocq’s request for euthanasia, and he hoped to use the stream to rally support for his cause as he ended his life in the days ahead by refusing food and medicine.
A Facebook spokesperson said the company respected Cocq’s desire to “draw attention to this complex question,” but that its rules forbade livestreaming suicide attempts and that it had taken steps to block livestreams after listening to “expert advice.”