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Since the Suicide Act of 1961, the United Kingdom considers it illegal to promote suicide. The act will be amended to include web publishers with so-called "suicide websites," and to help internet service providers police sites for such content, reports the BBC, following concerns that users querying for suicide information hope to locate sites encouraging them to do it.

"Updating the language of the Suicide Act […] should help to reassure people that the internet is not a lawless environment and that we can meet the challenges of the digital world," stated Justice Minister Maria Eagle, adding she is aware of "inherent difficulties" in policing suicide sites, as most come from overseas.

The ruling raises concerns about whether a government - such as that of China, whose so-called "Great Firewall" notoriously "protects" Chinese users from subversive overseas websites — has the right to decide what content is appropriate for citizens to consume on their computers.

Last April the British Medical Journal published a study during which researchers sought suicide-oriented sites across four major search engines. The three sites that appeared most often were all pro-suicide.

And while an outright ban may be unfeasible, an amendment to the 1961 Suicide Law may encourage site publishers to put more thought behind what they're publishing — and potentially incentivize ISPs to police them as well.

The amended policy goes into enforcement next year.