On most forums, threats are not allowed, however do you take the threats people make, seriously? I have been on forums that have had people just randomly say they will harm themselves or threaten to kill someone if they don't get what they want, and while most people think it's some kind of bluff, how do you know for sure if someone threatening to kill themselves is really bluffing, or someone threatening to hack you truly just mad that you banned them?
The online world is cruel, that's something that I am sure everyone knows by now, and there are tons of bluff and sarcasm and well, anonymity. Everyone is invisible and can post what they want to get attention, however how far is to far, and how can you tell if something is a legitimate threat?
Even on websites, people can post comments threatening to hack you or whatever, so how would you handle a threat of life or death, or even a threat of hacking? Would you call the authorities in hopes the people learned their lesson, or rather to be on the safe side in case it was a real threat?
I haven't had any real severe threats or people saying they were going to harm themselves, besides someone saying they would hack the forum and that there was this secret hate forum about one of our admins. Everyone just pretty much ignored him and he went away eventually. The forum and site were/are secure anyways so we weren't too worried about it. We did receive a DMCA take-down notice before but it turned out to be fake (you can find a lot of these templates on the internet). That same member said his lawyer was going to contact me but that never happened either.
It there was a person contemplating suicide or something like that I would try to reach out to them first and refer them to helpful depression/suicide websites, the National Suicide Hotline, etc. If they continued posting I'd probably reach out to authorities- haven't had to do that yet luckily.
I can usually tell if a threat is real or fake. So I don't pay much attention to them unless I really do feel threatened. If a member is making threats about harming themselves in anyway, I will make an effort to reach out to them and talk it through with them.
If they are threatening to harm themselves I will help them out and contact them privately via PM to resolve the situation as best as I can. If someone threatens the forum or another member in a way that is out of character - as in not just a joke, then I will ban them outright if they do not show signs of remorse. People like that are not welcome on my community.
I generally assume that most people posting threats online are bluffing.
If there's a chance it could be real (like actual evidence that someone might be willing to kill themselves or others), then I'd contact the authorities.
I doubt they are serious, there are a bunch of trolls online. Don't assume that its bluff or they are being stupid, always assume that its serious.
Most of the time its nothing to worry about if they were really going to do it I don't think they would sit here and tell everyone they were going to suicide.
