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Facebook Focuses Suicide Prevention Efforts On Live Streams

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NEW YORK (CBSMiami/AP) — After several people, including a 14-year-old Florida girl, live streamed their suicides, Facebook is taking steps to prevent future incidents.

On Wednesday, the social media giant said it was beefing up its suicide prevention tools, including new options for people to report if someone might harm themselves while broadcasting on Facebook Live.

Facebook said that it's in a "unique position," through personal connections people have on Facebook, to help connect those in distress with people who can support them.

To this end, people watching a Facebook Live broadcast will be able to report the video for an escalated response from Facebook. Facebook can reach out to emergency workers if the person is in imminent danger. Separately, the person filming will also be shown a set of resources pop up on their phone screen so they can contact a friend or a help line.

The company is also streamlining the process to report posts about suicide or self-injury. And someone feeling depressed will have easier ways to contact crisis workers through Messenger.

Last month, a 14-year-old Naika Venant, who had been in and out of foster care for more than seven years, killed herself several hours after she wrote on Facebook: "I Don't Wanna Live No More," adding three sad-faced emojis. She was at least the third person to live-stream a suicide in the previous month.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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