Cyber cops in Hong Kong are trying to track down the creators and users of a Chinese-language internet site called "I Need To Practice Killing Myself" on which 188 people have pledged to a mass suicide on December 21.
The site was set up on the Facebook network and has encouraged people to commit suicide.
The fear is that the sinister cyber tentacles from the site have already clamped on Hong Kong youngsters.
The group has been blamed for the attempted suicide earlier this month of a secondary schoolgirl in Hong Kong - an incident that has led secondary school principals in the SAR to call for more of a focus on cyber dangers.
The present status of the December 21 death-pledge group is murky: it has been disbanded, according to one report, but a "suicide team" is believed to remain active.
The suicide attempt that set off alarm bells in Hong Kong involved a Tin Shui Wai secondary student. She looked set to jump to her death from the roof of her school but was stopped by other students.
In a session with a social worker later the student revealed she had joined the death group featured on Facebook.
Representatives from the Association of Heads of Secondary Schools of Yuen Long District met police yesterday to discuss the Tin Shui Wai incident, the death-pledge website and other internet evils.
But Yuen Long's police commander, Kenneth Li Kin-fai, noted that the internet is unlimited and people linking themselves to the mass-suicide plan could come from any part of Hong Kong or outside the territory.
Still, he said, the Commercial Crime Bureau's Technology Crime Division is determined to track down its initiators.
He also warned that aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring the suicide of another person is a criminal offense punishable with up to 14 years in prison.
Undersecretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said authorities are looking into recent incidents, but "we can't jump to an immediate conclusion of the purpose of the website by just looking at it. We need to investigate it thoroughly. This is a visual world and we may not know exactly who is involved."
Faced with such threats as the suicide group, however, school principals are looking for action on a broad front.
"Teenagers are active users of the internet," said Teddy Tang Chun- keung, chairman of the association of school heads in Yuen Long. He described current cyber-based social work as "adequate" but added: "We should explore how it can be enhanced."
Tang suggested that universities should develop programs to teach social workers how to provide cyber counseling. The government should also consider setting up an organization dedicated to cyber counseling.
A cyber counselor is a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist who provides therapeutic guidance via the internet.
Tang also said that a study carried out in September and October found that students in Yuen Long are generally not suicidal. But his association will work with schools, parents, the Education Bureau, police and the Social Welfare Department to promote the value of life among students.
Samaritan Suicide Prevention Center director Heung Mo-yan said a growing number of people have been expressing suicidal thoughts online and a team has been appointed to look into this trend. The government should allocate more resources for online counseling, Heung said, and she urged people to report anyone expressing suicidal thoughts.
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