Controlling the suicide and self-harm content you see online

Many platforms have tools that will allow you to block or hide topics, keywords or #hashtags that you don’t want to see.

Sometimes they are called “filters” or “content blockers” or “hidden words”. Often the social media platform will offer a list of offensive words that you might want to block as default and then allow you to add more of your own.

Some platforms focus the blocking tools on comments, and others focus on posts. Sometimes you might need to check that both sets of filters have been turned on.

Even when you have turned on all the available filters, you may still see posts you didn’t want to, if they don’t use the keywords.

Sometimes you might find that someone you follow or have connected with regularly posts or shares things that you don’t like seeing.

There are different ways to stop seeing someone’s posts. These features can be called different things in different places, so read the platform’s descriptions to understand how they work.

Things you can usually do:

• Stop seeing someone’s posts in your main feed for a short amount of time (mute, snooze)
• Stop seeing someone’s post in your main feed permanently, but let them continue to see yours (unfollow, unsubscribe, mute)
• Stop seeing someone’s post in your main feed permanently and stop them from seeing yours (unfriend, unfollow)
• Block someone so that you can’t see their posts or comments and they can’t see yours. The block works anywhere on that platform, even in public spaces that are not controlled by your settings (block)

Depending on the platform and the situation, the person may be able to tell that you have done this. For more information see if the platform provides any guides on what your options are and what will happen if you use them. This will help you think through what you want to do.

Most social media will let you control who sees things you post. You usually find this as an option within Settings called Privacy.

You can set a default (for all your posts) level of privacy that you can also change later when you make any individual post. You can also set a privacy level for any information you have put into your personal profile.

Different apps or platforms have different options for who can see your posts and different names for those options. Be sure to read the choices carefully. Usually you can choose from:

• Anyone - often called Public
• Anyone who you have approved - often called Private or Friends or Followers
• An individually selected set of people you have approved - usually called a List or Group
• Just you - sometimes called Only Me or other similar phrases

It is usually possible to write a post under one setting and then change it to another later if you want different people to see it.

Most, but not all sites and apps will let you control whether people can leave comments on things you post or not.

This setting might be connected to the setting for who can see your posts. On those apps anyone who can see the post can comment on it. Other apps let you set different permission levels for commenting.

You can have a default setting for all your posts, and you can change the setting on any post when you make it. You can change your mind and change the setting even when the post has been up for a while.

You can also say in your posts if you would like people to leave comments or not. You might say “just venting, no advice needed” or “please keep comments positive” for example. Of course people don’t always follow those guidelines.

Social media apps will often send notifications to your phone, email or desktop screen. You can control whether you give an app permission to do this or not. These options are usually called notifications or alerts.

If you find yourself easily caught up in social media, it can be helpful to make sure all notifications are turned off. Some platforms have other tools to help you manage how much time you spend online, for example Instagram allows you to set a “take a break” reminder. These can be helpful if you spend more time on social media than you want to.

Even if you use all these controls you will sometimes see content you find distressing or that you worry could be harmful to someone. You should report anything that worries you. Use our guide to reporting to help you.