Elon Musk orders Twitter to remove suicide prevention tool.

(Reuters)- Twitter has recently removed a tool that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources for users seeking specific content, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The sources said Elon Musk ordered the tool's removal.

The tool, called #ThereIsHelp, displays contact information for support organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child exploitation, Covid-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters, and freedom of expression at the top of specific search results.

Representatives from Twitter and Musk have not commented on the matter.

The US-based organization AIDS United, which was promoted by the hashtag #ThereIsHelp, and the iLaw group, which supports freedom of expression in Thailand, told Reuters on Friday that the end of the tool was surprising.

AIDS United said a webpage linked to the Twitter resource attracted around 70 views per day until December 18. Since then, it has attracted 14 views in total.

Eirliani Abdul Rahman, who was recently on Twitter's content advisory group that was dissolved, said the disappearance of #ThereIsHelp is "extremely disconcerting and deeply disturbing."

Even though it was only temporarily removed to make way for improvements, "normally you would be working on it in parallel, you wouldn't remove it," she said.

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