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Old 04-12-2012, 10:25 AM
Whack-a-Mole Whack-a-Mole is offline
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Someone threatens to commit suicide. You egg them on. Can you be sued if the person commits suicide?

Over on Reddit there is a post detailing a story of a guy who posted on Reddit that he wanted to kill himself. Apparently some Redditors egged him on (not all did) and the man jumped from a hotel window killing himself some short time later.

The family of the man has decided to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the Redditors and some others.

The debate here is not whether the posters who egged him on were despicable (they were) but whether Reddit should provide the names and whether those people should be held accountable in a civil court for their actions?

I cannot find what the people accused of egging him on wrote since they seem to have deleted their posts (admittedly I did not try looking very hard so perhaps someone else can find it).

I realize anyone can be sued for anything but curious about people's opinion on whether they should be held accountable (beyond their own conscience assuming they have one).

ETA: I am not involved in this case in any fashion. Just saw it and thought it raised some interesting questions.

Last edited by Whack-a-Mole; 04-12-2012 at 10:28 AM.
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