Encouraging suicide on social media could be classified as manslaughter under Arizona bill

A bill advancing through the Arizona Legislature would classify encouraging a minor to kill themself on social media as felony manslaughter if they die.

In Arizona, it is already illegal to advise or encourage someone to commit suicide. But state senators unanimously approved legislation on Wednesday that would definitively add social media activity.

The bill is supported by a family whose son, Cade, died by suicide in 2022. His mother, Megan Keller, told lawmakers that her son’s friends knew he planned to kill himself.

“Not one person did anything,” Keller said.

She said Cade’s peers were asked why no one notified the 988 suicide crisis line, 911 or a parent.

“They said, ‘Megan, we didn’t believe him,’” Keller said.

Manslaughter is a Class 2 felony in Arizona.

The bill would apply only to an adult communicating with a minor.

But in a case like Cade’s, a group hearing a friend’s intention to commit suicide and not reporting it isn’t covered by the bill. And if all the people involved are also under 18, any advice or encouragement to commit suicide wouldn’t meet the requirement to bring manslaughter charges.