Meta-UP police tie-up helps save lives

Lucknow, Feb 6 (IANS) The agreement signed between Meta (Facebook's parent company) and Uttar Pradesh Police has already had the desired impact - it has saved two lives in a week.

In the first incident, a college student in Ambedkar Nagar district said in an Instagram post late Friday night that she was going to commit suicide and posted pictures of pills she intended to take.

In the second incident, a man preparing to hang himself from a ceiling fan, beamed a live telecast of the act on Instagram from Ghaziabad.

In both cases, the tech giant managed to foil their attempts by alerting the local police, who traced the two people and stopped them from committing suicide.

Rahul Srivastav, additional superintendent of police ATS/In-charge of Social Media Centre of UP Police, said: "Under the prevailing agreement between Uttar Pradesh Police and Facebook from March 2022, if any person posts something related to suicide or self-harm on Facebook or Instagram, then Meta Headquarters in the USA immediately sends an alert to the social media centre of UP Police headquarters through phone and e-mail."

He added that more than 10 lives have been saved so far.

In the Ambedkar Nagar incident, Srivastav said that Meta sent an alert to the social media centre of UP Police with her details, after which police reached the woman's place in 15 minutes, thwarted her attempt and took her family into confidence.

On the directions of Additional Director General, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, Superintendent of Police of Ambedkar, Nagar Ajit Kumar Sinha has deputed a woman officer Rukmani Verma to counsel the girl.

In the Ghaziabad incident, after receiving an alert from the social media centre of UP Police, Vijayanagar police station inspector Anita Chauhan reached the spot within 13 minutes and prevented the man from killing himself.

The man was depressed after losing Rs 90,000 in business.

Ghaziabad Police counselled the man and spoke to his family.

"UP Police are making diverse use of social media for the cause of public service, offering a bouquet of online services. We have a dedicated and well-trained team of more than 500 police personnel who work round-the-clock to render any kind of assistance," he said.

Srivastav further said: "Considering the sensitivity of the issue, we are coming up with a detailed SOP for such cases in which there shall be a provision for sustained follow-up and counselling by professional counsellors of UNICEF. We also sensitise district-level officers to regularly keep in touch with the victim and ensure all possible help."